We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very3 @$ O. D1 i S- b3 t4 n
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we * P) C' o0 T k# {; B, N9 M+ mwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 6 L# ]+ j4 ?( y+ S; N0 T- S" d 2 e6 z9 G6 Q* U. M1 a7 v( dIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, # T# F8 W# _0 j/ E. A! F, Z30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in " D: f+ o' C' D( W- La very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as& b5 m/ _) e$ ^! G/ B1 G2 m0 o
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort & w! c! u/ I7 \, k6 s9 ?$ A, ushow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep/ O- C4 a- w5 z9 o
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the L! q9 K! G0 O6 O0 jlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,2 l" ]: q: N* r: j5 F
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.; M( c$ T- ^( B% b6 Q# g; k, @
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but . w* B+ I1 `- Vnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not b8 Q r5 X4 q+ E+ A0 L: }2 Yexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our- T6 J; L" D9 k0 i+ s* j; h3 L
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 4 p" S( W% U$ \0 }a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards." E7 \/ y) w* {
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ( B: l. P6 C2 \; R* |& I1 [low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool' u g4 ~6 p9 r/ f: U
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top0 V( l0 G% R/ i7 I2 Y
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the + ^* r. i! _ D, U% Jstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from , R( S) e+ G1 A# D8 m49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes9 t# I6 c) e$ i: Q1 B9 B* _6 f
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ' A- t; s; b4 C$ Y6 z0 Afingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.3 ]3 y* f3 o; @3 y
7 |- [9 _: j% D3 _# EThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are + M) _5 r% h% [+ ~# R/ @/ jjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made & ~! Q1 h1 D& c, } Efor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba* Z9 m. p7 a' Z: ?$ J7 _! A: N
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having7 b5 `! q# D2 s5 @, c2 p
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 5 E& s4 ?0 R8 l+ N/ sdaily 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 / M8 a: \ w" k/ z% q- u2 dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- z4 e0 }& n/ d; R' C1 h! E4 {. @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, * w; _: R5 o) T" O0 S0 h/ m0 A, ]"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give ) Q# m) w* x8 f) q1 }answers to our pointed questions. ?7 c& ^/ m4 E+ N/ a. W( F3 E3 @4 f8 ^5 S# K
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 3 o2 I. v& W: ?8 [) E45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ P: C( i0 _& p% j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is - U. D9 v# x0 F F/ b2 ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ! N9 w) E9 z w: }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ f* B" B1 H: K3 q; J/ Y2 C. E4 a% C# R
medical schools., x; Z6 v+ k: G3 e( h
0 Q& P! {& U( Z T4 lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ! O% Q1 g4 K# y& E; n9 Kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants % R1 _, p* A$ [& P# eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years % k: d1 S3 w2 \6 R8 d& passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba . L$ i6 X: f3 n* E: _) h% lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to * h2 E ?+ n4 x' {% U* O% M2 B) Tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 v* E8 s9 ?" x* m l
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ' P. U- @5 u! |( g6 U8 cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' F0 D8 B3 w: W4 u
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 8 t9 r- `) m' J* U% P8 ^sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. % e+ E/ ^2 `0 T6 B; ~ 7 ]7 I# |# k$ c; z- \The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no . n' p6 h8 l: y* _0 i* M7 [) [, oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 I6 A9 S6 |2 t; G/ G1 d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 8 L$ }9 @ X* Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' ^. ?4 p6 ^% C$ N% T1 C
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 Y5 H' @5 X. m
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# D5 `9 v" q4 g( A# Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. , `& h. L3 Q2 `3 WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 1 ]# @- |" v2 m* c9 c Qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. c, ?- P/ V: j: w& T; Q( d
charge the fee defined by the state.0 N s. b, q" q0 j; @
7 Z5 B5 q6 w+ e4 `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. G5 |& ?- F D
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. i+ Q: ?4 ^" p' v& Y" a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 n! a( w8 @( b% w
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ l' ]5 T; `% B. _, E: ~ ]; C: K7 w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 0 D4 u, s' {+ h: mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ) [! G6 G/ T& u8 l. }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if H1 L7 q) o. ?9 s5 E
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; I( j8 ?- |7 ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ H7 u8 M) t6 n; E" J) E( Z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! P R2 w0 ]$ u7 [1 q" g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want/ I3 [+ n+ X, L* B
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 2 o2 y3 D$ i' L) P: m1 v* Y) Xbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% |4 ~% k( l D1 f
are spaces. : K% v) N4 Q8 h/ ]! Z+ c! I6 z" D
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 U/ I! J" Y r0 _. z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they - P0 C0 H" t* e& G7 A* cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. B; E& J1 T8 ?" A6 C
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ V, [+ A$ _( s+ a+ H6 }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the* l6 G9 ]4 O( U, b3 ]$ P& i% ?: F8 e) Z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. y! Z8 c/ y4 v6 p( n7 g, z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 f1 @4 _: L' Q$ P( R
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it $ m8 x( F0 O. y& w- U7 vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. & V9 {1 N+ _) U% p: J6 b 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/ z$ R3 t) z/ K; }* ~( j
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 4 l& ]3 B' B' u8 o, nthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very) ^: s: g$ t8 F% @6 o
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep + h' S' O' X I+ X6 A& E( K: qrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day " a% g$ S: S' m4 [3 isupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of : M1 o: q7 o1 ethem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms) t1 K. F6 Y3 P: |* a8 q
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the1 h/ t9 F7 O! O' i& o
tourist area.* m. J2 u# j' L% s5 ^7 V
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's . x o' |: M1 Ypictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).+ K6 k$ V- u1 r( K1 ?+ P: q
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were ! y8 W6 N. s6 G/ a- d. Eeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps " k/ z# Q4 o& g) w
less leader-religious.$ M4 R+ z: Z& G3 O; g6 W7 T, d
. s0 R/ U0 o5 e+ Y0 LAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba) D% s. W) Y3 j1 b6 W
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big" E/ D& I# p6 r; x
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US# x: o2 i* i0 T& M9 N) Y
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). / \# Z* X8 l* @- P& f) l! G& j 6 E8 P; u, Y/ x8 K& b h8 k$ I. {We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the8 I% I$ k) N/ t5 }, Z! K2 T
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not " W% |9 @5 X3 d/ T: j+ X, _the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 , e6 x3 {) q/ Econvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for % S) |. N/ v Y' t2 {: b$ n4 }foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars7 ^! z3 |* \; l
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we; Q, W0 m4 Q" a4 }6 W' |0 ~" A
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the / \7 Y- ?" s2 b4 m! Sreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. $ y5 l* K' }. m" w5 J1 cAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 9 x) y) f' `5 e6 G3 ^9 por visitors. 7 N8 a4 [; S' o, O5 F% H) G3 y7 c2 q, f+ g8 M* k, I
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
