We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very # J7 D" ~9 R! ~# s3 M& _interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we! q5 E* a$ D0 P
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.6 n- ]: u5 ]6 _3 c
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,( n! \( E x* ?) ~* j
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in * e8 _$ p# S: W+ U4 Va very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as9 G; ?$ ^, A, Q& o$ \
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort # e6 h) P! X* S1 ~4 E+ eshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep+ f) P& M* d0 X7 j. `" `. |7 j7 l* |0 [
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the$ y0 \; b7 W! o, w9 U) G5 q0 e: M
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 6 \. |7 F# y* E9 \with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ) w, q$ R. y! d/ @' Z# M0 q* m+ r, l5 a People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but - D! H9 t2 O" q! D7 \$ Z& ]names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ N' f" g3 N9 s+ N
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our# I# P. h2 ?$ a
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) S0 v' F! }. F8 c
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.* P6 e4 f" Z+ }! I7 n$ K% T2 m
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 1 g: p9 l. G2 t( t+ y% Zlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 0 C, l& O K4 \+ J8 U% F9 n" d+ G# W(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top! O$ Z8 l; k2 t) i0 ~
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ' E, b3 s+ L6 K: ostars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from) u* K# j: y) L* h+ [" k6 l
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes . C/ L2 J) I8 p( Y: Y& Y' J0 S8 GCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with " `& e! h2 w7 y1 t) [( Afingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ' Y3 L' E5 ?$ a+ w- k4 ^4 U# ^/ o) {' ]7 |" c3 S4 Y/ B
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are+ ?% G5 Z) o# ^! o8 g7 z, R' }
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made2 @, v- B: K! d8 u
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba$ S. `0 s3 M8 t& ^! P- `! U+ ]. K
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 6 K) X* E- i6 F! ]2 c- @a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China Y, t0 }6 e" e9 v ~1 Y6 P
daily 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 M4 \0 _7 r! A* U5 M# sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; A3 b" z* W2 F, H9 W w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, / t2 v" X9 m" t0 Z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give * I0 W4 R4 {; v7 Fanswers to our pointed questions.8 ?! a1 m5 Q" g) m
" }' s+ }2 N$ t ~1 K3 p
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 v& Z, H& m7 \9 L) q0 C3 q0 z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand u' e a& O/ n W5 p5 l" B- rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# ~) l2 u* F4 n- k1 v; t1 Z) ?" H7 P
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* l" Z) X7 m/ @1 b: V9 A0 i% E
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, f* V" h0 f5 Q% q$ _+ F( I
medical schools. ; k( D; R+ P1 h+ V; d 2 D; `2 \1 g; TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 @3 B) z* D/ l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" o. B+ Y0 J8 t* w" r
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ; l6 d/ Q+ `1 p, A+ D massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% [( s! h& U+ ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! `( o. z5 d+ n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There |, R8 F% H; Y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! L! f. p) ?" t9 l: g1 P$ @+ k
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ; ?0 N. G, v+ B1 f* A( n2 W6 W( r6 ?0 Qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some ( y; _" ?1 n# ~' ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 v2 g5 J0 E/ Y. J- u
5 I" x3 p/ v7 c0 d
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 7 `* [0 J a& gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ) O! Q) l2 \3 t$ s2 X6 Nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people $ h4 y) B( u" A! ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 I9 N: N$ T' x
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( A& d; Z) n" u# u: i4 j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high , Z: ?0 N1 I" q/ d6 mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) p9 U, o- }& h" ?- u" s# z) |( g
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 8 U# i, l: x+ ?) @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ! F7 c: K8 V$ Z5 M. M9 Hcharge the fee defined by the state. / }/ u& L3 j& Z3 j) u2 j g3 b. L) \- I, D
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ^9 s) u) J3 A, `7 g5 Z2 B, Xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( S! D8 N3 {6 J! z7 E$ |
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big " ]. s! T, _3 W6 m: s# dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 |" T6 m3 e5 e5 [5 [' B
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the X5 r3 {, e1 T8 @1 W; g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 5 T! e% i$ f0 ?: ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ F* w: c' p* D) {8 t* R
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 0 j8 G: O8 C5 ?; ^4 Btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch & {; l8 ~5 h$ ~7 c5 X; nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 F2 `# S9 z$ s' O
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want $ n. X3 j% W: Y3 p) xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 9 t% W% ?" r3 e/ {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ! m' e+ P; q `7 H1 F6 T) ?9 xare spaces./ }, h, h L" t! ^% _, f# Z
4 Z+ p6 _, u! N# c5 m! v# ]6 NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi : K- c+ H. V5 m& ?7 Nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 h, ~1 |. v) A+ d# t" s
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the M% y, q4 O3 d* f4 V3 B8 l: D
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different . ?" ]# K& I5 Y j: a2 xparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 P& {( ~+ z5 D% I2 p2 E
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 m [, @$ W G. }9 K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 9 d8 m! q E, n4 _ [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ' G0 j2 N4 T& m( t/ P9 S7 b( |/ X7 uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: [. O7 ^0 z6 f, g3 H
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 _6 ^: L; R# H! ~ A6 t; Jspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ) v$ [* ?4 P7 `the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 6 ?( }1 }' a9 w" q* P: W; S! ?limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 2 L4 y, v3 }4 {; r# Brecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day& s1 Q$ e( l* q7 G9 V& ]$ h4 N
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ?' L. |7 c' }them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms. f0 x# {5 W/ b0 @
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ; k0 z1 e- [$ ?& a, n8 etourist area. % D4 h2 ~9 e& X! N8 A2 p, }- X' A + e: U% Y* N; r( x5 gOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 H* H$ Y1 T9 Y! H
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 3 f- r% M F- eCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were8 ^8 {/ |) O2 G5 i. g0 U% v" l* G
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + F2 r$ Y6 T6 Y6 j* r" {
less leader-religious. 6 y( Z* E! j+ ^) L1 P- Z8 c6 ~. U, N- B6 i) S" E
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba9 `% ]) B# q$ G% D% |) t# t
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big # W1 Y; _& v: u+ v6 Vblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US9 |: o; ] a" u7 `
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).; \* ]3 b3 I0 n' L1 b* T4 Q
2 V( j5 \& f {6 w; @2 u+ BWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ; H- l. L) J6 L+ b+ `parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; Z+ @* W/ \; F6 |: H
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1' N: F$ ]( u0 ]. C
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for" G. D$ E! t( [$ y0 \
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars& Q- k6 ] B( ?* A- o6 k7 s( X
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we/ H5 n' M8 M0 j4 k, u1 m
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the, T, M, F, y3 E: r3 M* j, J
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. " y# w" j' k4 g' C# }3 B& G$ h9 eAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local& E0 p- ?1 I, S1 i$ N r2 z3 f
or visitors. [* ^: I, U' }* F
% f L5 H4 S0 b# t8 D8 G# K; E-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
