We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 3 B# ^8 G0 [0 k9 t! ?interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we + f% I( l. g% `" j. w& lwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 8 c. R. \, h" A7 O) x S 9 K% e/ Q7 U7 C7 Q8 i4 _' R9 OIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, # ^+ G3 D& C+ L30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 4 i( b3 m/ ]5 Ua very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as# @- E. _2 d, y1 e
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort( ^, T! t+ [3 C, ~
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep: [" I8 V6 H: x* o+ ^
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the! V' p q5 m. I9 Q e# D" x
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,- N! Y* z5 o% @+ K; w9 V( E
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.$ U" c+ ^/ X+ j3 [4 I7 K; o
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but4 R: Y* h! ?7 h( L! b- S
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 5 l; P3 h7 U; ^$ p4 \) t+ k& Qexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our8 L+ j3 t" y" D7 F% f! f$ {; H
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 0 c N3 J' c2 Y7 }3 t& K% aa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.0 J' u! L' m& M
- R2 n, [- @* Z9 \: jThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,; v" p3 Q! V8 P# ]" O
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool # S" G) h: ]) Q' n6 n" _(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 2 g8 l5 Z" F: ]; pof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the* o# H" D. A: n; w" C
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 1 {) g \& Q. p2 k, k5 N r% n49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes e1 }1 L {) l: w; a
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ! U1 E" }) n( J: `9 L1 C; Q& ufingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 8 T2 Q" }& C( ^ 2 D# g& |6 s- RThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are2 ~8 c0 v* H2 v, X1 ~# B, @3 ]
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ( o2 o7 G& l7 j3 G( A& {8 u; |! Qfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 5 d1 i* [ z& r5 A! @" \" P, Wtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having1 l# h' `: o: p2 g4 ?- {8 M6 O
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ; D7 C# B# E& o! G) P l9 Gdaily political studies. 作者: freedom_2008 时间: 2011-1-15 13:28 标题: 我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living+ }2 S5 v1 Y7 u& l; O2 e0 a, U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 2 a4 ^9 i3 t" q. a" g [on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, / K7 I) j: I+ _/ r# \& n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give ! z+ w: I7 _, C3 Ganswers to our pointed questions.$ f3 m/ H. q% K8 z( _. H. @
U" U o g$ X1 e' i
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, + i9 p+ \5 |4 g# w45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 8 [9 e& E j9 M7 E: q6 b7 D) ]out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is " z) h2 M8 F. N* V' nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" N7 f% M$ z$ |/ g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are + y: A9 _% `% }, W) [medical schools.6 p$ I5 m# } u
$ ?) }. ]9 W6 a
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( W8 b2 a6 r; l* G/ f
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& l; M0 E0 Q! U: }
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* l' u1 J( |' i+ a4 o, @$ |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& B; l9 n5 x! L) |, n6 v* D9 C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 1 O9 X1 k- e$ C' r: L8 xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 2 h# h m2 Y6 Bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and + `" {# Z( C- d% F lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 V6 q+ D. U7 \0 z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) d, w' j" v1 C6 `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; t6 p5 k) h( q" u
" C5 R5 `" N& I7 s4 g* y" H/ g
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 8 F6 S6 p8 k% x+ F/ bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 [9 ?4 I6 s# |: d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 }" n P- x6 D" M& I: M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good + }9 \% t l: Q/ S8 Cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ! W- I7 E' L; Q) W! _' hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high / ^+ M* n6 F0 p1 ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* T, a; B; v; I) `
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When - ~" V0 F. U0 S) s* y. @: K* ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: H, [( D [, _4 `- w1 h- u
charge the fee defined by the state.2 b* F% K3 l# b5 S2 m" J0 Q
5 k6 H3 M6 D7 k: Y$ i7 q6 ~% HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, R% Q6 u# U, n. {( H
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type " h: B v6 b$ n$ Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ I0 |4 a5 n8 n, P' i/ N
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ ^! f9 T1 ~2 m6 D3 }2 r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# @( B7 o7 a& E0 i, c
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on / t6 U* v3 L: X% O! `. x$ P5 |schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ; P2 y4 q/ g) { V. R6 \you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ' \$ v; d0 F" w* {trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: X! I+ O7 X( ]5 j( T& h a4 H* k
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& K% `# O& i' C, k9 t) g* ]. z# t
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 d9 H! R! N5 O' L3 W$ b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or * w$ g% [8 F* H4 {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 J% H+ L4 k0 V. u: J. O
are spaces.$ S6 j( ]4 z5 @/ E6 V
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 6 ?/ l9 }, Q4 _+ Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' E% h, w, m( e. S3 `2 l: ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ; s- B" z; u3 w! [& z! T1 l& h* D( p40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! P6 I8 k- N. r* S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 7 b, E* t0 S- _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. h: e0 f( a/ h3 D% h- e
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of : g- J2 _0 h K" }$ Q, f. `car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it / h8 |9 ?# [( E% K2 Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." Q' ]% V: z! w5 `0 ]
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate. 作者: freedom_2008 时间: 2011-1-15 13:29 标题: 我们2006年的古巴游记 (三)
Havana seems to be a lively city, with lots people and some beautiful 0 m/ H6 N4 Y& j$ c1 Y7 x& q5 X- ]spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all( _6 A4 u% {/ C2 t
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very6 ]0 Q. i0 B5 c
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep: k- B! C9 L6 v) U
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day7 k' K/ o3 V9 L" g, f
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of / I1 B3 j" j: U- x( Jthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 0 |2 k& j/ S8 y- n' u9 v. j$ b3 phave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the5 {3 u0 W: E$ ]& W; c
tourist area.; c3 `' R" B8 w t5 M7 j
6 @: x, K* g" d5 q$ h- m' _One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ' H' O& K# g: S2 w7 ~3 X epictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 8 q w6 i& g' T. _" d# `4 i4 \Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were: S. R& ^( X7 J- f0 c
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + ? l# Z) N6 Y- aless leader-religious. ) J& y Z3 S7 K3 |( B7 J, f y5 s K; k- |$ x0 S
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba( U3 R8 U1 ?; @+ z1 C! G( {
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big , [. g8 D2 ]' D+ E# _5 jblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US % t Z4 |& ]' | w4 oembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).3 Q5 @" H* N/ o6 W- H, `! L( ]
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ) T4 d: F N q" J" fparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not- w4 h2 p' }: b i K
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $18 m% P3 X: u! @$ ^. ^2 d
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for. d- t! v3 F; X$ m
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars2 J+ [- @1 r, m* y
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we% z$ w6 O, P$ j/ V
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 8 |1 H0 v! A% y3 q- Z+ ^real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.% y% `9 n5 N+ }4 c7 b0 F7 W
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 8 I+ f. }6 q9 B& G$ r# [or visitors.) K0 @, z8 m6 y1 u& E3 R6 }6 s& G
1 X- n9 V5 X- }7 x& y) R9 X0 D9 b
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
