We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very% T% l; c# U _9 c4 {
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we. E. Y6 Y0 V7 ]5 K5 \/ Y# {
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ; }/ ?/ k6 v$ V! w# V! B4 ^8 w8 f* a9 _( O. U# o
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, * ?2 ~: ~& Z+ y( n$ g, V0 |0 G" I30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in+ S" O2 J K8 z1 U
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as+ a% P) Y) t. C
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort+ [5 T7 `7 l4 W8 H4 G V
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep0 V) S( J$ E7 c& H
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 9 k# ~* T5 m5 klobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ! c" O. N, K! D4 bwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.- Z; Y' p6 X" l( i( I9 ], R
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 6 `! l+ R7 V4 j* L/ t4 |* enames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 0 I9 ]& ?/ s, [2 Z# T: o) q1 Nexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 5 H! L" @+ S3 ?9 t) Gflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through- i2 u$ y- M: z" \: h
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.- v, k* z- Z, D4 ]3 M
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,' }4 N. L5 Y7 ^ w4 V A! M
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 7 e" b0 d3 \7 \! d. P0 N o$ U! b(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top5 r" h; u' T0 w- {! b8 ]
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the9 p0 y! e& X" r
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 5 E& X* o5 x1 a" ~3 w; E49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes, t8 I! Z1 P; c* ^7 y& I7 l: ~
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with* i. k# a1 }3 c3 J% z" B+ C
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.: f/ }5 {, g8 s+ @( w+ u
& ?- F) E8 u% c1 n4 y' a/ }. W; ]The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are. g. t+ R6 W3 }$ e \7 ]
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made " ^ P. X* F2 \' U" h8 Ufor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba- W" z7 B- [) S
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having , L2 f0 f- C$ m% Ma staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China6 |# \* w( ^4 T
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, living8 c$ [ B8 Z$ U, H% G
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went V& L& c) c& A( }$ d" P% ]1 Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' `- s M& l" a# G8 f( U, F1 g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 1 X, k" D8 v7 l+ [ X, g5 H5 qanswers to our pointed questions. # ^; D4 L' H5 h& o0 I 7 _3 I( _7 E9 P; c% I3 U; cThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, % t M, m3 k6 b) y. H45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ; R4 d( j% I- \( j$ oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( s! C7 h" S8 L; Z8 A9 V
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& }; x: O+ B( R1 l! S% \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 S: C1 G* A$ M' F+ U
medical schools. ( R4 s9 ~* T: K( k' b0 a0 a 0 U. K& Q0 o' CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 7 H/ W* F! e" _( s8 J& cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants # m2 t: X# G: {* O$ e4 g5 F0 Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. W! U3 H, D4 C q6 Z. j& j9 x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 y" g! {. M( k& R+ J
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 3 A" w5 T) ~6 |/ A4 B3 q/ k) dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& s1 A7 \1 W6 a7 _0 P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and * R6 d# _+ V& V% _* p9 f% ?( E5 smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ) B" Z$ ?4 U9 V( f: Nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some- z# N' E# ]3 N
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 7 V4 x1 z7 Q2 W9 B( c+ j' S: W& z+ |+ c* k9 j+ J# N- U
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# k! n! z' @' O* J$ T0 D6 a( A
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and * L; P3 F( k: @4 C4 Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. [+ N$ m5 W8 q
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. _4 ]1 W4 U* s, @5 q; ]5 v- M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 2 B, o; d: f/ k3 p% Hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high " ?# R& Z/ {5 }9 T& J/ z+ U( Udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& b$ y9 c+ {, D4 z+ `* j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 p: x! @& }' ~6 a
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ) O h' N1 L+ u% hcharge the fee defined by the state. 1 y }8 M8 e$ T6 H* C5 F# l " v7 b, g, w ?0 D( r( HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get : k( L; X, V' d# O* n; x- ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 3 b. f/ b3 d `# O7 Vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# g9 N, Q' ?1 z/ I- w- m
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel $ ?$ i5 k+ O B+ L, {seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ( X5 h8 E9 W; G% s, C8 {0 S8 t+ wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 L# Q: K& ^. L& s- P& w
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 3 f% o, B5 q2 @& Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people & ^3 I! m4 c/ D( [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch $ X8 a- b0 w, m1 J4 Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 N1 f$ I/ [; }( f) b
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 }7 [! E3 S1 y1 }( f9 z, ~
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or - U5 W+ \) i# A, H3 w/ S- fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* }3 C5 g( N( g% O) p" L, B
are spaces.3 X" q$ W) P1 A1 y
9 T: \; H1 v; |' ?) G$ jThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 9 E3 b" W1 L' j/ U# z6 L9 ]9 k# Yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( q# P+ @; i. s+ q+ Y! q
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- C" L% D0 M$ N( w! `% M7 h6 c' Y6 z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& q* j# p4 y1 e/ |& d; ]. w
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 W! s5 G) r5 D2 f9 E6 q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. W4 v K0 G I, Z/ l, x- d% _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 _' z- J4 B/ r, o
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: o8 |2 k" |' m0 w3 [- I! m* K# c
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 r# o6 _: ^$ Q2 m( H; D5 x
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. {9 k# v, G* E' w- l! M7 Q
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ; ^' H- e! \" nthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very- C9 f, l3 ` |; |" q
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep. g2 M/ Q+ \% {; r- ^- p% p3 K
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day7 p# e. Y$ ^. d
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 1 ]$ Q2 F. P: m N& [them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms$ E" O5 }7 U) g$ `2 v1 @* x3 h
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the4 w/ N9 f; x- C5 u0 @1 l4 Q
tourist area.) g9 O" F& ?- F( M$ T* n
: w. f: _2 h' K' FOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 2 @7 j: h1 \* _5 ?3 }/ j2 O/ L; xpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). # a+ h1 [' u# Y9 f' w3 H( yCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were2 P" |3 E! i1 c* |& Y( e
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps : T! W1 Q, U2 e$ J! w
less leader-religious. 5 J7 h; U" ~" X t5 _, H6 `; n7 L+ ^! A
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba6 T6 E/ a4 u# e: X* P
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big # _: A# x& D: h" l7 X( hblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US5 q/ K: F1 {3 Y# k) ?
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)." w& L; _7 h- }
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the . k. P" C0 t) I7 D; D0 d% j! pparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not% j/ e s8 D5 K
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $18 b! F/ S. r" D8 g+ J# E+ h0 L, {
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for+ H2 I; F6 @' t( o0 y2 K: M2 O5 v
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars * N/ D' p5 _# ]; N(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we6 e# D8 q: N$ M
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 7 M, A7 d# r9 q9 Zreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going." X3 B0 I( z {1 p7 X4 X2 z
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local0 O# T2 f( r6 ~+ c' o' J
or visitors.) S- E8 m% x! V2 E1 b
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-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
快乐的古巴之旅 2011-01-23 09:01:12 1 l: t! r. a+ g% J3 V! U3 N
