We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very - `" e" D& c+ ?! ]. tinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we/ o0 X% f* N* T" u6 g! b. D
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 8 i) C7 t( Y. v! @$ Y& I0 {# E( l: [5 E* V6 c7 P. n, U
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 4 _# f. ?6 l" \& k30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in( V% R" T3 }% v' ~
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as* A' `; }: T; [& k3 a& Q H
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort' ]6 `% S- |3 h. a( K# ^. A
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep; [# f2 @0 j* l+ k: m
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the k, B) A. b Z0 S d% m' H' s
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, , [5 O$ ~0 {5 o3 n; pwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.# x4 L( O( {' R3 z% v: E9 x
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 0 N" M* F% R1 ~7 w) K5 @" cnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 0 B3 a; e: S1 o G# U" ?9 Nexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our & i, ^+ t+ g: L/ D; Q$ D) n( l/ @ Cflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through % N6 |! h7 B& o% W3 s# Ca roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. - ~3 }, H, Z% A( T% r6 b M5 n- x5 P9 A 8 ^: Z) J, J* @5 \* i" V8 @; Q9 j+ aThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,2 v. U4 ^+ V$ y+ T
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 3 Y# }2 V8 s' f1 u(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top / G# ?% @/ t; v0 ~# Pof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 1 W) J/ D. J5 m9 ~stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from; n4 Y0 T% V0 p- _6 g
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes( J3 N3 U; X1 u0 W! S* l
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with* s1 P. @+ H2 W& n
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.' b% U# Y, C$ o( [
( x# R9 G2 p6 K% mThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are) X' V" R/ t: E$ i1 e* ?5 q% g
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made2 S) u5 E; }" ~
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba" m# M7 v& X( i' w9 b! i9 [
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having2 c+ H9 z7 l" b: ^0 O
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 0 h' E4 P0 C0 a8 x( J- rdaily 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 7 m; F( A# n# Vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 6 G+ H- v) x( J: z- a/ |/ U0 }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 3 f, G( r- O7 ^) F"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" D. z. r1 `! h9 L
answers to our pointed questions. W- z8 U, M6 [2 t
8 F, z' B. O2 m6 }6 @) nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 0 ]7 o+ k+ c" P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. i' ^" B1 [; A9 x! I0 T4 N; G9 |& F+ G
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 0 B# V5 J+ ^/ l" d2 `free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ G4 V& x( C( G# a/ k; y( X. n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. D4 v) U* @) E8 P3 P
medical schools.2 Z8 g. T' n7 U; B& m" {+ b
9 U4 C, G" i$ v7 Q. y
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 y. M! G2 J1 g/ \2 \. o
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& V6 @; `+ l7 A3 A2 L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ! I8 ?( R. F2 X3 N* U2 ^assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! w/ h6 q4 U# H
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: y% \% ]/ V+ u. V% ]- v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There % F, s j$ S& W4 o7 v% Sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and * w' |4 @7 P6 W: Q9 D# i7 ?4 pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 _. n1 i" J( \7 t+ T
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 K3 V0 T* b F: r' g4 s
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ' G9 x5 ^# X, L. w6 r3 I+ z 3 J$ ?9 q5 K" F, w9 V/ uThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) e( ~+ _0 i4 l B0 q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. { ?; \0 ]" @9 _" G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 e* ]% Y' Y! S6 p
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 4 S) Q' y2 p$ P, I2 \+ e+ ]thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 @" z7 s+ ]% V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 2 J; s% I- x% Y9 wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: M) V8 {1 T" h6 P& H3 J
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ' U% \" r3 d5 @3 {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only * a: G4 r Q8 gcharge the fee defined by the state.& c C' U' B) y; O
2 v# c1 J8 c1 M9 T0 I: MThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get - j* p" K/ l% |( S; ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ X) y* {" v0 C9 Q- V
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big, ]* d- B9 y5 M* n4 W( r
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" o* S7 c2 i( w8 w7 y( w D) X: I
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ' O5 D3 J6 l( @7 zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* u Q8 [2 ?6 e- l, s
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 a+ p; B; {; V. s3 C* E
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 3 X2 y* b( ^( z& ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch y# b, Z4 }% `$ ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) I& U0 `3 J) X, L& r6 ~! `0 Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 J! ^8 X! k2 V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, }) i9 @- @! _% c! @ t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 4 F9 \) C, p# \* T9 N( ware spaces.# H4 _* U/ H ?
4 K( q3 d) k. ]( N4 E
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi , W. L v- H Y) t2 e: Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, t" U0 F) ?5 N0 `8 q/ V4 J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 9 }+ B+ K# h5 Y, @# M# Q6 [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 s5 [5 m' _( ]6 e/ A, q+ I9 v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 7 _8 M7 Z% V( e7 {best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few U [& o G6 o. [' \$ Y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of & g5 ~8 ~" D3 u8 l1 q' B! [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 V* ]; @/ d9 n7 _
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. e! E* A3 C3 l
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 beautiful9 _. M9 y6 ?9 n3 [8 G
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 4 X8 w3 Z' I4 nthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ( t: @/ I/ a# v; Q }6 P3 Elimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep/ a9 W6 J5 S7 B2 v
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day+ T: b% E( d2 G' e
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of F4 }) a8 R! B& j/ [7 U3 zthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 8 m# Q* j% q+ K) p: \! ]have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ u1 @0 Z s( c; S
tourist area.8 j& C2 ^" I5 V/ v H- V
8 r b. `' c! x( TOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ! k6 g o1 O; e, Q8 a* Zpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).3 x' [. t5 i, W! f, w
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were2 M9 J* D/ ], O! I; ]
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / q: y0 A% Q0 Z- a- m" D) u {less leader-religious. @3 P+ R/ W. V+ ^& |" ^- \( T' i6 E( ]
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ; T% I# J/ d3 J! Z V8 ~: mgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big; `' e' A5 \9 j- \
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US1 w0 q3 N3 ]- l f2 e% d1 h
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ; ^; S0 y- x6 f1 \5 [3 v/ P% b4 o" s8 Z' S- ?+ K9 ]
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the " X: j9 G7 q3 N8 bparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not" z5 \% d9 ^" S$ n4 X5 q* R
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $15 E3 t' ?5 n! R2 e, o- L
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ! g' k8 k3 D8 U4 E: q% G. fforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars / }- R" t0 J" ?1 R; D( ?(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ; c1 q3 @0 C5 Nprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ( v& v$ x5 ~2 w1 {* |& ?real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.7 y: A x. M. x, K
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local . O @; i) o. B) X: h; Xor visitors.! X1 \! M+ w& Q6 r1 A' f
! X& R% J6 A0 e/ Y# \ |-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
