We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very - ^; d9 O0 k: h* p# I0 qinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 7 f! a1 a8 Q5 S1 n3 J+ wwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. p5 q! b/ x! U$ X& I$ ]+ K; w- t: _. w; q) E
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, " h/ q& F# G H* Y' H30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in & |; {' L0 l; k* @/ [& Fa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as + g4 Y) e# e* ^possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort / Q! e: O8 K' m! }6 `( R, Dshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep $ y. I# @. S8 D F) ^; kbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the0 V# L2 I8 t7 w# v
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ' \7 b( x9 h# ^9 t$ G# kwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.1 O; S4 V1 {7 l3 R+ K' @$ v
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ' }7 D3 ~/ n9 |names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 1 u) ~0 Y4 [6 w* c9 i8 {- V; L" w9 Eexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our6 [7 @9 m# e! t1 u$ O3 [4 m
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through , s6 E3 a5 N8 Z2 [6 n# aa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 7 g) y3 e7 E; ^) T2 F9 k: s9 |9 H: w7 u
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ( V; [1 w, v; llow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 0 v$ o$ ?% ~6 i+ ]+ w' x(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 1 E$ f! M1 p" fof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the" b" g/ g- {' h
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from2 G; ~: u5 m7 n1 v1 j
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes , m& v. x2 y% u+ e$ `: A( }Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, |1 v9 }5 r. c3 `. G
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 7 K# T+ q3 q1 b8 V. U9 Y ( k' M! t4 x' L% D$ i. }* J. `The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are . Q; L) }5 f# M. d/ Pjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made# A3 Y0 T" w' x6 t% d2 f
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba - i9 W- ?$ o5 K+ M+ L7 T5 C9 Htourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having' G. |) _$ V$ c' I. d
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China: t. _" y1 T# p- V7 |% m8 T
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, living2 d3 q. ]) M* e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ; L$ `- C" x' I4 o bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 8 I- Q7 h: ?5 X1 e# k% _; p"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) B$ _% R0 J8 c6 S) {# }
answers to our pointed questions. 2 K& C0 {; d0 }' H# `; n0 O9 D/ p- ]+ P: v5 I, z4 T" @% @) j T
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 d; @5 _) k/ k: g/ _# ~
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% y* u2 n" [9 q) Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is + y+ z a$ n+ ]% t; }* pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 S' q/ J: G1 D: I! n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! ^- k+ z& u2 N
medical schools.4 i& c! n$ h) _: R, Y
# w/ ?0 H" f) o# vEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 ^3 V9 ?# ]! D p0 K# a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 |4 h. L+ B( v& y, ?3 {: _4 Y+ H/ H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 s; O. m# l) c3 L
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 U; E" G9 s I8 L" q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 ^# ]7 W% p/ t
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 0 _- \7 J% C5 a# z7 @' Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 0 s* c: V- ]! D/ Imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ( ~0 I6 ?7 w- O. v7 B- R" qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some 9 R8 ]1 v9 ^$ o( v. J' usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. $ q0 {( N S$ B ; g, E' P G/ ]" i( rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 ?; T6 q4 T3 p& a
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and " }- f2 P' K2 Esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; _$ B) W! i- A# J# y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) ^4 {, p; q( K0 ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& D! o6 X) d- u
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 4 p, @2 v8 r* N0 wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., F' a1 ^. J* Z. o, ^) g
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 3 |6 h* W5 f' M; A8 qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 0 T9 M7 H O/ G' X2 R& a2 b, mcharge the fee defined by the state.6 Z, y) K. Z' `6 k: d
9 h7 q g9 T4 C3 {+ P& I
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ K3 a# a8 ?4 u, V2 q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 7 J2 l' O, S- t( T! y, o# g6 C% rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 x& h1 }* Z- l3 r% ]6 r" j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 4 o7 j4 E6 ]% P% d' A B; E2 l0 B/ hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the + |+ j: ]5 U# q' ]/ P- g( nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 a, O& p* e7 v( o+ C6 F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ) X X) \) v: V( v; q8 S( u9 H0 | oyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 k9 O/ d% h0 D+ E) P) K/ [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# A0 x# P6 y" v8 n
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 4 z. s6 o9 c: ?3 I. M. l+ Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 b$ u6 Y& w* V& o6 t
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or O2 h) a2 C; b& S L
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 4 }% X* N: j& N7 @' g+ yare spaces.% \2 c7 e: z- ~- C- e8 k- f2 [! X
- k; j( w5 {4 j, i% w* o
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ( d/ H0 a- f( ]/ K4 Zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they n3 J% d8 ]+ c- D/ }, x
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, v4 J* b- Y7 q2 }% w/ h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ R% [+ t. J4 d8 w* J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 X' L7 K4 U1 T* G8 h# \* i8 K) |: D4 q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( V! C* R* H: k. B; R% ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of " l# f( X1 S! k+ g# B1 Tcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it r% s( b& h" O4 r$ D* ]is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 R' t$ U5 L' j
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" k- e5 T: D( Q G
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ; l k, C, }* e9 E/ p j* C- Ithe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very% W4 ]' h- W0 ^- Q! T {
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep# P* S/ P; O# g
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 5 y8 s( d/ ^- @! W( r. bsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of $ \9 x# p4 G, u* n Y+ ?& Dthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 2 R" g; k+ j5 p H- qhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 1 v3 D! O6 P4 j( qtourist area./ s- c% x5 b$ d6 ~ d& @1 R! l
) w |6 n% K( e2 J9 v; g2 }% n
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 4 H0 G9 c8 [/ npictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 7 s8 S& q- B' C) z: I) eCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were + i& c5 F/ g, v4 }1 k8 b) }everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 7 x: |5 }) v1 v4 p1 f, J
less leader-religious.8 A( b& o( B2 O' n4 t2 s
' Z% Y- m9 h# rAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba * _: j) F' ~1 I. Cgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big4 A- ^6 c w. Q$ s' l. s
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US1 A1 ^- W# z4 ?( U
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).( |& O; \* b. o/ v
' P$ G: s. F3 L1 K4 @& DWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 4 {4 u s2 l5 |! ]parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 2 o: g, t2 s0 sthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 - @ o+ L; U5 n dconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for2 `7 G- j; x% f* {
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars , y8 L$ q4 ]: Q7 }$ @(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we% {, C* d/ A2 j
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the1 o ]( Q( }9 _6 L( T; j& f
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.. Q3 Z+ a7 _0 N! K, D+ J/ y# d
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 4 e! @ a. {) ~or visitors. 1 X4 q n' H+ S 3 ^ m' z/ @; k8 O; R-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
