We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ; u! t; [# ^+ N3 Ninteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we( i& x) I7 ]) x4 N
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. " O; U- m' [ V/ M4 ] # H( J$ J- f/ R2 ]! iIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,( q7 R1 E' E; u( V2 p7 x9 G* t- P
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in, u/ L0 K/ p7 C4 l
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as7 R l. \, k8 E/ o
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort X6 H! F% Y: r" Q3 v
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep2 m$ @, h- q& b# B# x
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the- ~( f" e& X9 {; D' Q0 x: t
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 4 @7 d+ F0 K2 z! Q1 iwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.- j7 a j5 k$ C) A) [0 }0 O( B
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but" ~$ q, c$ A; X+ I' U
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not# g, Z; S8 H7 W" K& ]
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our , _6 c3 l- d& p1 aflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through $ A( o9 `9 `) z# o) r+ a9 p% N4 B) xa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. . w2 U7 o9 k# n; a) Y7 [5 |- Y& T! u0 v, F& c4 b# D
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ; B, n* v# V, @! a, [+ |# O- {low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool8 c7 M, ~ B. m: y
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 7 } {5 z( x/ [0 Z- oof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 5 `* H$ |: n! j+ m' Dstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 4 T& S- T2 P" t5 k$ d* W49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ! c" J8 d& f( ~Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 6 O1 d0 ]8 } f6 J. o9 Ofingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. / C: m' N" i8 W+ P: v + v& E) ]" @9 ZThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are5 R6 \8 R. ^) T6 f5 \
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made4 M1 ~- {7 B+ f: b0 t
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba% Z( [& I$ M( r
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having' u9 d$ |+ i5 Y) l, ~% M' s
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China - X5 C+ O$ e# s+ w) s( Q+ J7 ddaily 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 ( w* B# g4 q' I, _) |standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ ], V# z% K; L0 }" y# O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," A) \+ W! A ]% T
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. `" g' g, Y2 C, E3 E
answers to our pointed questions. 0 P# m I! y- c# e3 n" P- Z6 O( L: {- X. o5 N! N6 j
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, % E# R9 F c3 g3 l* B8 N9 |" t45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 V1 I) j, a( l& P( [
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 5 r9 K* _8 i7 `free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# q1 n: g* k# N3 o/ u. o- x
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are . b2 Q. K" h0 \$ Jmedical schools. 1 F$ d8 l( @* j+ D6 J) k * f* {* z5 ]" ~2 X- YEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 2 k1 s0 C; f/ N" egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 V* `9 u! a! i$ k- S, Q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 0 O- [, h: ~% o+ d! g8 ]( gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! E7 ^0 K( P0 I; y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* w/ B) m# b4 U1 a' |' \ T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 v( [4 B( `5 M" R$ e: k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and + X6 L& g7 c! C) h. imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk, z2 s2 z+ r u1 j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 6 w; s. d) e- m( wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) U5 S9 e: g Z, A
; O1 B. T/ o4 G0 ~& z$ X: |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 5 Q/ @& U5 G) P0 _% M; q$ Pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 a% t; w; g+ j3 q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 z. y i5 U, x' [/ k
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' L: \6 ^% M3 O6 M0 m: m; _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ( s6 ]3 n% N) c3 C/ Z! r, Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 6 G' E/ Q# @' j' |! a1 Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 6 e' O s5 b" JDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When % S& Y2 Y( h0 X Z- m' ]a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only : f& E4 C# ^6 R& R- X1 ycharge the fee defined by the state. 4 x7 {* T, q5 g4 B m # i6 k& _% x. T% J' m2 EThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) y& m2 H0 T- s" ]. |/ V) w( R h
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; J9 p: ~* \. e2 F5 G$ C5 n
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ; ^! Q4 d. }* a$ g9 ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 7 G" x' q* |8 {' Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 7 @2 ?2 K7 P; B4 ?. s( ?6 ?; eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 v# o7 d# _/ |
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, f; d9 a. P4 U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ! p) e2 T2 h5 d* I C$ Ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 ~- L2 F5 q/ p( \. Z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ p6 h4 \5 C7 t. M$ h# i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want / F: G( ]8 ^" h4 N5 G F) Eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 c/ ~# b/ T0 |2 l0 J h* b& u5 r- h: w: T
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there # u; @: D8 {! V, `+ Oare spaces. ; q4 b- x0 l# x ; e3 s) m! @! w, n3 M# o3 h% TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 a2 @; [, b! p8 c: @" x4 U7 \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 [: U7 y& n% s5 t; B9 q) V: ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ( a, p2 X) K: J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- E$ r# r& _- `2 _* \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 \3 d" u: G7 K D% U7 O: d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few " O# H- x5 i& w8 I7 }' Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 7 O2 w3 Y' l) b( x; Bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 i, ^+ H0 s! X1 N1 h0 {* {! T
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; P! s* A+ `, k' M$ d5 F5 D
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 3 _7 c8 g/ X- k& M2 O pspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all / {( |4 k2 s) {( n! Jthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very; `3 z6 ^( R X& z) @# |
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep : _6 T5 J0 `/ v- \2 G7 |recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day0 d" x/ `( z- F0 G7 C" |' S/ U$ _
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of $ N) X6 l& c) U+ G) Pthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms+ d3 V, p3 l" w; y+ z( r( B
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ' l5 S7 |$ r8 V" y6 ?! s l9 {tourist area. 2 \5 p/ ]% j- m' ]5 D* g* Q9 q) ]; F
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 2 i( z7 x/ D& vpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)., U, |, I: W8 U# j. w" l
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were / m/ c e; \% m$ ^7 ^6 qeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / J2 a9 c% Z& t0 R. F8 }. t
less leader-religious. $ }. Z- x" }9 W( m; @& H6 n1 z , M) t2 } f0 ]) \& v2 m0 ^4 ~About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba# O1 X6 h% _8 E+ o: i/ {
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big6 E2 r' \# _8 @% w* C$ H7 E
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ( f- D2 o4 e' u- O- d: q( w5 Bembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).2 c6 E3 L) P9 g, f0 ?9 _6 C* l6 g
/ R* y1 ]- a& w; A: WWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the/ E1 i6 w, E& C$ e
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ! R3 {4 m) F+ Gthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1' {( f" ]/ E1 w9 ]
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for& Z* D% h9 Q3 Z8 [! A
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 8 V' y! F$ C# \) n(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we/ i/ Q7 E' |; q% O/ _
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the / F5 p* @/ h7 g1 T& Q; }! x; creal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ( U; Y/ y! i% \, Z# _$ w1 EAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local1 D# k8 d6 W0 B9 z" x$ p* E
or visitors. . o7 l6 z. T* g & m7 m6 X& @' Y0 F' \8 m-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
