We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very }; w' L3 D0 } S7 U. l2 rinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 9 D( [9 P5 `7 S3 F0 Wwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.* T/ Z1 j5 c$ `( P6 M& D- n0 X2 T
+ z# k# T8 g6 X; m! a" q. U( J* [. ~3 Q
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,9 A! [$ s" j4 @1 p: P9 Q
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 8 G) y& k+ t: X, A- ga very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as6 b! j: l" ]. R/ b: v
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ( ~) B6 [( i* G2 E/ B9 cshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep4 V$ t! b# h/ q" R% t2 o
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the- W( P6 X3 Z* K7 M
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, , \% r+ @* ~1 y; W4 Y- fwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. , [( M4 b" ^$ h# U8 [ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but4 e6 Z/ S2 Q( q3 S) ~
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not' z7 S( N8 f. C% ]& G' S: L
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our" W. {: i; u# @$ ]8 |. j' h
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through ; @: Z% m- X: x* u7 ?/ Ga roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ! @$ z* u: y/ {& r) l$ U- J$ p; |. @. T& n: P' g, c: `+ i
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,% J- H8 `4 d& B$ \2 \
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 5 [+ h! e* u/ {4 ]0 K(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top : D' T. Q1 l6 b/ H. k9 uof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the3 O" K3 ]4 p, r0 K, a
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 0 B* h. P9 I. n: T: X" Y: c! {0 R49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 8 i" [! \# X/ n1 t, x# v6 NCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with- K& Y' h3 s* ]8 F2 K. Q/ P/ `9 d
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.' z& i* D( g5 Z- h
4 C8 |9 s) k! ~; J! v' F
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are& i; r e+ t) t- r7 s
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 4 I$ h6 p5 m# |1 ffor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba , d, N" S5 \9 I! z: H6 wtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 3 T! M% ]8 X: H- f: t" ~% va staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China) j; I6 V, U, g
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, living5 T( L. q" m* m- A6 [; b) d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, B; c% J2 c6 N. ?: J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 N% v3 m( E3 z& x6 H
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! K* V' ^( c5 X; G M4 N
answers to our pointed questions. : Y2 J# |1 t& {: m7 P% x: J( {9 E! _/ @
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 A2 Y1 P( q% `' p5 H
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 K9 n4 h9 W4 \; S& C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is . J) g; ~4 G$ j( M* z2 }free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams & U- N. f4 V8 {# Y5 Y \! ]to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 }7 |$ k7 n% v& u3 y; ?* [6 m9 `4 ?
medical schools.5 R/ X! y: G' T/ u8 v5 u( A' }
& g% V% W* r* g5 c8 Z
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 8 j0 ]& d0 v) Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- H% n( N4 S% v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 8 e2 K6 g( o3 @' e( o; l2 |8 Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba % S) f) F) P8 t1 A$ Dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to - {5 O- L$ k% cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: J% H; O! {2 n# Z) k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and _1 W% Z# M& q& Z) S
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 c# ]3 v; b: a9 L. I
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some" i7 Q9 {% r5 J" M O
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. % Q8 Z/ \; i2 G8 v3 W- Y$ ]9 r ?: y2 s
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no [, e ]1 n0 N4 U! Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& M4 Q! x5 z9 ?" c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 8 }8 w0 G+ B2 v9 g% _have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ e2 }2 Z& Q9 s$ f
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby |% @) }$ ]2 p3 u; F. ~: I% v# a
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 3 p7 Y/ }! }( X4 O! _' m3 I' Y1 Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ( b: O& f: g+ B: q7 oDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When - x* Y! @( D. }% j' ?a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 D1 y! i7 g+ y* h5 {& N
charge the fee defined by the state.4 w7 q" D$ p4 K) K' s0 L
. A: y3 H8 t8 U( d9 Z" \There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ( N; Z; K; o. O8 S6 ~! Q1 ?on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ x5 W3 a& h, V
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big, W9 p9 c* K# f9 D) d# X
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 _; ~3 b2 E8 u' {5 M
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; t: a6 `* v/ W6 Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! v K, O; ^# @; x' r
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 j; V4 M( ?3 r2 J6 q% x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people : f+ U* S7 h0 ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch % l" @, O! K7 U: n6 ?! U- _' Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- \/ j3 [: a/ C; S6 o* j- f" V1 `$ \
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 ~7 |% P8 p' G. G
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, _. N9 e$ T5 ~% ?6 B6 @
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: ?# \. f) i3 D7 @' \3 q* v1 f
are spaces. - N4 F$ A5 P6 |6 b; y( U4 W: h1 v$ H: C3 N I
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 N, z. x& u y% o+ L/ Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 m T3 }/ x6 j$ V9 |% J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 4 g3 `: e5 y A+ R) H40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different d3 `# A% b+ o4 ?. fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- q n$ Q3 d! _( b' a7 z6 x
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! `) f: \) x8 N$ L/ X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# G- I1 {# q' P: f4 `
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ! f; N& {" K. Z/ k0 Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 b, h/ k3 v) `* F+ M
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 % v6 j3 F! a3 xspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all9 w. d y; j' q, P
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very( e' k; {$ W* p( {
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep$ I; ^9 o- R3 m. R6 J" \
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day N0 C9 M( T0 @7 a% A6 Bsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of " s3 f$ l7 |( {0 v) {5 F2 ~them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 1 w. h1 H4 l6 l( J" q- ghave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 2 ?' M$ ~) n* q/ v3 j" m; Gtourist area. ; f2 {1 N- m k% ?% j ; p n8 E; P4 I: kOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's + P" J' n- `7 H( Ypictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 3 n' o# q3 \/ v9 F# _ I7 SCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were1 ~5 O9 s$ _; f1 S
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 5 d& H6 J. e$ }0 B
less leader-religious., I. ?9 i* s; _ c8 M& Y& D
7 B* u# A3 D2 v: u; g4 `About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba / R- N% ~2 Y8 e4 e" Ygovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 0 U% U! p2 Z5 V$ Z3 {7 J0 c9 g$ g Kblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 6 C) F6 D! o' u) j7 K/ P: J% ~: T' \embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).+ R4 o+ S3 T8 s$ B9 A4 n# n
, n# n% a- Y( e0 g1 ^We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the+ a3 R; m6 M, D0 S3 F5 j' h* w
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not : O5 Y F9 }# X: B$ }: pthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 1 D, ^* k. n3 t9 nconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for * A7 q: g1 g/ |foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ' [ R/ T; ?" _9 m: K+ Q" b# ?3 ^0 {(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ; i3 M1 g! `& |) l w" Pprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the * M# U( \; \7 ^2 f! }$ ~real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 0 |, \' A0 X% A6 X3 aAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local7 S0 n4 E3 a4 E% }# S
or visitors.2 m" P4 w9 V3 l$ h
8 Z( ?' R7 K9 ~% }
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
