We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 1 ?" c; b& w( ninteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we - M- h, c, W4 h* a8 U+ A2 Y* i. uwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.0 [) Y' O& N' l1 M/ `3 a8 F$ ]
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,* I1 Y1 x# v+ b
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in ; \8 k! S7 q% k ha very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as / C( {) g! q2 \; J9 H- K% A* @possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort3 [1 Y( X" B; ~% @$ o
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 6 }; [1 s! a& w2 H+ i* pbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the! r$ ] u1 n8 v- d; A- L% L
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,6 `2 L* B X; J. K0 ~ |
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there./ @. X- \, \2 J8 e
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but0 ^% ?' r" W& W3 Q3 ]
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / ~" ]2 J4 R0 Z9 t+ |exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 1 |2 W( j0 ~) r0 e1 R5 aflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through( g; u+ A: }* E9 l
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.3 D& V* T* s" L+ ?4 ^; N; J9 ^
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 8 f# J) T! V0 f- a+ B) Xlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool( @7 K3 g2 I T: O
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top5 g: v7 e9 P3 R$ ^. y, @! k
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ~4 h: }* ^5 O
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from, q5 u9 w9 Z: Z; _) W9 E7 o3 }% n6 [
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes+ E6 O" B( u& ]2 K( j" M! d9 o
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with+ V1 Q: h: x9 |* ?1 n3 B/ {
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ( i0 [4 d* E/ ?2 v3 t# ?6 _ |" P1 r t( A0 w, |' \( I
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are; k! g, L1 o5 c
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made" X$ |& g. X. @# M5 k8 v0 [, }
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 4 n/ t, u, o9 m1 O' K3 Ttourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having * u: m8 g9 j# `4 t8 v$ ya staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China7 i4 [; k c7 e3 S% M
daily political studies. 作者: freedom_2008 时间: 2011-1-15 13:28 标题: 我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living 6 q4 t$ ?0 H; i/ M, z& H8 {5 Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went & T, q3 e i% r4 Y; c) ]6 yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& i$ j' w, C6 n- M1 G: C, v' P( s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& Q3 t. ]! M" f8 D; z! i
answers to our pointed questions.; v& P$ A5 [5 @8 b$ U' K$ v4 r* f% S
1 m3 P5 Z6 Y) J# `8 d! x
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 W) [2 E4 ]4 M6 \) x4 v" c
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' ?3 _% x# g- T3 z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 c- G7 W# T& V/ ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams : m% N l9 C. ^. C( Zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are * C, I( J+ @8 |( |. |, Z+ T) ]1 umedical schools.( v# }+ {0 n9 E) T. }, c
, p6 {, ^( \) T, @) Y1 _( a1 KEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 ~# o( M& P: u0 {7 O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants / ?% s$ u, ` u, q* x' M+ `5 H o lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 D3 J' P6 E8 t- }6 R$ S& g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba $ y) ~# f5 G Q2 Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to C- V% C4 f+ E) ~: w& I9 k. Vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# g# U, O3 \9 L; x/ Q/ d" p& ?0 A/ _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" n7 X2 a+ [- ]" @
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ; W+ `0 ^7 a, o& Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 [8 N. y9 P" @% t) P+ Z4 Z7 {5 p
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& G* P( \5 b0 g% e5 D) _ i
- \0 z2 B8 }- s( }6 KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ; I+ \9 r( G$ v* j+ @: X1 nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- S4 f* D: o5 \2 H" p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people \ \ f) m1 P. ~, s$ X9 @0 Y; _have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good # z' x: c5 B, ^1 ?7 E& Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: o1 W( k. E# }, [* j+ |' I
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& h* ]2 y6 {1 ~& g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ) L( X7 Z' {7 b0 T/ H' W! P9 oDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When # u8 }& R. }6 }% s5 S) x6 ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 3 x8 F1 C- k3 t8 Ycharge the fee defined by the state.% X* Y/ F) @: ^8 d
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 9 S, d- n. A! P& [% F9 g2 M# q, ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type x ?! l0 e" _' _of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- Q/ T9 q) W V
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ ^4 [6 G! Z- b* Z% }2 v
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 2 B2 s% Q/ T! P- K5 Cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ H( k" i" N8 [( f6 y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 4 T" q$ f+ U1 R, r. ]. V5 }! Fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people r% w, o( b6 ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ' L. d6 m- n' ?hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 \" v8 n# p6 M( q1 u' K5 h
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; Y6 s1 X$ I& v: ?3 U3 s
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 0 c b0 Y& P' e# Nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there # D- Y6 f' Z+ }8 d* Ware spaces. 4 ?; D; X% N4 K 8 @$ h+ {, C2 P& T+ W) YThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 1 Z, S! O. L& d+ l$ ]% nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 5 l9 J$ E/ o8 Mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 5 y9 }/ h l' p8 \' e- W" P" `40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ! c: h- }. ?% b5 O% x4 Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ) U6 M/ m! o+ f& V3 ~; w+ gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few E, D* W: c, x B( Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ U; I8 h" K. R1 j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ) }& H+ J4 {; U9 Y! yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. $ S! a [. p3 L& w& W& _ 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 o+ j, r7 G- [) s! g( e Jspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all" @9 U8 }' r) s# Q) i* e! ~
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very1 o' ^2 B7 d: p' a
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep7 U! y2 l+ e1 I" \. b2 C1 v
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ! {4 o( r" R# j7 g! M$ csupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of8 Z/ Q, p' |( m$ K# X" H
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 4 h/ Y5 b8 J1 i6 D" z7 rhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the # z( {2 m+ Y/ D5 ytourist area. 0 d3 Z( j3 U4 n1 M7 ]: M( X) L . k+ @* V6 d0 G: |One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ) V$ g/ e/ O, v( @. qpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).6 ^2 ~* S+ I6 k$ T: Y" A
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were' h; X' V4 b& @% C
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps # b, M% O6 h, K- ]
less leader-religious. ) [4 y2 h3 R; z! h' }; q/ g v 1 q p6 ?# T! ]) ?5 \( u$ Z, CAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba: c' ^% W, a7 i8 i3 M( Y+ {. X
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ' U3 }- Y) T/ B. u' Fblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US2 M7 o8 M& J/ F4 R3 |
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 7 `! u; P( O8 Q! a9 M: a* |3 m: F1 @" ~, Z
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the' u1 o5 W8 N+ ~( W
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 1 }: t0 G7 C4 n, W; Q2 P+ ?- Jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 5 F2 }0 z/ M$ G2 Sconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ( R! i5 n; {! Sforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars, z, S4 S1 m5 ^- A+ }+ L. _
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we3 i+ T$ R8 v9 }& f7 v9 Y% {
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the " e7 N) L' M2 b+ ]1 d/ s; }real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. z4 J. D0 d5 U; d7 }( E9 P0 D, p! ?: bAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local$ Q, W) t7 u" t4 ^$ [3 t* J4 [
or visitors.( m1 A* e$ c* A) c! b# q0 N# A
) x8 G, K, L# C; Z-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
