We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 9 D% }/ E$ P- V& o% b( Pinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 0 t B: N6 _" Q9 _ C2 `3 ywanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.8 `" b6 i: d2 s8 A6 m4 _7 @8 K
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, " x0 ?; o8 R) n" D30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in$ j% ]" O, ~, ]1 B9 r+ Z
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as & E& p# s/ [0 }5 w# H9 e& h5 B- Bpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort $ _" D7 H1 P% f0 c9 n* dshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep & ?3 Z; V% {" q4 Q( Wbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the7 n$ @" j& e. m/ U6 ]
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,* C) e1 i& U m( X$ I: b
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.& {9 p2 T; g% V/ ~
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but- q$ x8 `# ]$ m0 {
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not! V3 X: Z' Q2 ?5 V3 v$ q1 d+ E3 o6 i- F
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our . s( {0 S# C; a9 X* k3 [5 K% Uflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through ( r1 { w2 T+ I& Ka roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 5 L( w% R8 v" A# P# e$ k- N' G) }7 D. O' k. P
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,# q3 V# ?$ v+ N# b* C8 o
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool / T2 _" p7 l$ L$ t(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 7 B. n- m4 P2 Eof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the $ k9 u) N G" Sstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from$ o! H6 G! i: e2 p
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes' k M1 c* j# Y: s- [
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with7 ?! M( c! }. T
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada." B3 S5 q3 ] Y9 X: X
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 8 i$ D0 C3 ^4 Y0 n! X' X" r5 fjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 6 B3 c7 J2 z+ Z) A) ofor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba) ^* t$ U! {' R1 p; N) i/ i% o
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having* S$ _5 O0 R! W" c2 a& ]
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China # A o( f- t1 Z, r' Pdaily 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 4 G4 K3 t2 P/ t- @% F7 v; G! T& Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& j0 n& C2 i: M/ r4 ~' T
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 v5 k! u1 b! g/ D/ k
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 8 `( t& Y b/ z" b5 a: t# `/ fanswers to our pointed questions.* S6 [( `3 F; D2 J5 G- A
! B5 m! v' T$ L: V1 p: o# ?# e. I5 ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 C3 P9 r# V5 ?& p7 O# t
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 e D# X. N2 q5 j* s, Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 S& \% E' \7 v. _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams : f3 w; U+ z, B0 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are % O5 c" d4 t. a" X% O% z* z# [medical schools.* T D8 D# T6 q- D+ F
1 ?* O1 d1 m& o5 @, F S& T9 u6 VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# @0 a6 U& d7 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 2 k/ t3 Z5 V; z; _6 }/ _to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ m4 U& @7 E; C' q7 [: w' @
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 O4 H) U7 Q" n+ R! s
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to / z: c) I: e: Xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- L0 s2 a. A m% h4 w. g
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- c# \% c/ X/ @& x* m! a' U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 8 c) P0 g- e' Q$ e0 M! z; yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some 5 x+ R0 U$ s9 w) p- Nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ; h# Q3 a0 N% X- S8 Q3 A + e7 i+ G& K+ v- P$ a) KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 4 _; s( J6 w# C, _/ U/ b( Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 X6 Q- |& }" c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* E! w. N1 p- h2 \& H8 f8 ]
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ! f, }5 d; u" i( F: h8 ~* d( Jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ' {& V5 C' ?6 C5 Y5 M/ S8 q0 X; Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 d3 R1 D+ V# ~3 s- Y! [8 Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. " O2 }+ ~( ], G! NDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* c: h# [& W' X/ z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( f! O4 w, r/ P
charge the fee defined by the state.! T: t0 X2 b2 p! f. }% b
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ( L/ I; p6 D( T2 a$ b/ @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 9 W$ g. X" Y) h. E5 ]/ J8 y% T! Mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big # Z4 D1 |# z4 |6 h1 g6 Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 P- Z7 |1 Q+ b* \* c0 v1 w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! K% F% u9 h. d0 e8 v7 z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; i% e' t k, A. D1 X" O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 w0 D! e, d2 X8 |8 r. A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 6 I3 A/ ?7 ]; Y: p$ Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch O y& x: a4 t3 I
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that " }2 v! s/ l. w6 f9 Q# xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want / E1 m' I' |; l) oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or & G9 E0 ?7 ~9 q3 Fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 5 {8 J% J2 ~' h$ x* M) v9 nare spaces.; w1 w9 {7 m' a* k
5 m% J* C* j9 ]. x8 b7 MThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ j% ~% Y% X1 k! o4 g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) A( p# N. X8 b
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 2 ^6 F6 E4 k2 o4 N1 Q! k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; J% q1 }% @# v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the . R2 L% f1 N* }* [& ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 z1 s! I6 k# G8 B
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: ^' z1 z' D- q: x9 d/ ?: g9 c
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# w. C! E1 Y$ ^8 `; S6 M
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 9 S8 i3 ]4 ?9 C& W4 L9 j 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 beautiful3 s8 b) `' S; Y2 h" f# j6 J0 G
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 9 Q S u' H- M+ zthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ( h! K6 M+ x+ e' B6 ~# ^4 m, slimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep. i$ q% M# Z4 o1 W3 `. |$ [/ k
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day1 g8 u, w. t" q4 j& |5 a4 C# L! F
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of* Q0 S$ r# z& j* ?4 G" i1 a# e
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms# M, ^. p; g% }; o! j0 P2 D* B
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ I l5 F% Z0 M% p
tourist area.0 l- ~, l% E8 `, u1 c
) } Y9 @- o, B3 W6 [One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ) X/ ?+ H% F* Epictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).5 q" Q, y8 X' [
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 8 \9 S3 T" M0 A! [everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps _* H: @1 k. \1 ~5 U$ d' T. O) J! a
less leader-religious.4 u7 o# N6 r4 M" z, n& M
% {, U' n/ o5 M' V; O' U3 r0 GAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba7 D1 J! ]+ u# V+ M7 v5 ^
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big / D# {) g& T1 J. q3 i& |3 z9 t2 @black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US( A1 F0 M2 Z. I8 Y' U$ I. h
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 7 H2 T0 y) F; J" U1 Y/ L9 b) U: s; ~% d, \7 R& x
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the6 G+ d, f/ j! K* o$ e
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; Z. a/ R' i5 ]. |3 w
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1: D! r5 P, ~5 A5 t9 B4 U" {& m
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 7 _5 F- a1 U1 o8 K3 y! uforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ; X9 P! t- Y. b3 Z(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we+ C* w' u6 d1 b
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the/ \0 s! E( O/ m5 q( \6 l
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.$ d6 h# n' v" O4 Y
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local4 O, w! ?6 D& J; R
or visitors. + ?/ P2 d* Q! f) h% t6 w- d. K- y+ Y7 o' J. r( V
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
