We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very . `- U, d) D! `6 einteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we k+ V, |9 N! o# n6 I0 o& Ewanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. . g1 L) t1 j4 \6 R$ v e% i" A3 R# ~2 F$ b7 G7 f
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,: y+ R3 f- R4 r) V
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 3 X5 h6 Z# ]$ n2 e" v" a8 L5 T, o) qa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 8 e& b9 x' f+ B6 G+ {2 u& xpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort & j: f3 Q& Q$ Q' gshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep+ x2 e& Y/ \8 b" u
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 1 h2 b4 S$ K. }: c: }9 t1 ]lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ' ]9 i6 S0 m0 V) G: ewith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ' a( r: h# u r0 m. W/ Y People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but * L1 {4 U5 h5 B0 k1 G! fnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not( _7 a+ l, e: F# o7 I7 p
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our" R+ A' ]5 B& _/ ]5 F
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through5 {3 k2 U7 M- e+ @" F H
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.0 Q" ]5 Z" P% r/ [/ |. b
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 7 m5 F# s! {' @+ wlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool : L8 D G8 t: z7 G' `/ b/ p(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top , n' w$ W. M! D6 L1 K5 K' G% ?1 m vof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 5 K! h" o- h: U4 e5 nstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 6 R# D4 h/ ]1 T0 ?; {/ E: E0 T49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ?- [& X% l! J" R- QCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 1 s; P7 g I" c7 r# ffingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.- T- J" n/ s& q5 T6 T7 V/ L
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are! A2 i2 x' w9 R" Y6 O
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 7 i' O- k* r. e4 U% w* zfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ( M+ S- {. H2 n$ ktourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having % ~$ y! B5 @, E1 L1 Xa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China0 k1 u8 P6 |) m; k# a2 k
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, living 6 _/ X7 V- w% u7 O. Y8 U/ estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ! l) t+ V6 F; f5 con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ; v4 d8 L4 d) N"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! h1 d# Q) `+ t7 p
answers to our pointed questions.( B( s- I9 {/ [3 N+ Y; a
& ^: l4 C e( R6 }5 iThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ t2 Z: F. Y8 ^5 N
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' g. b% z) z; I4 I
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 7 e7 ^' Z7 g/ |" M) X3 Pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 7 K5 E- S0 \9 O0 B6 T" Vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: L) E3 q* f8 W5 G
medical schools.' {; \$ W" L! K
1 F, r1 [) v5 q5 a* xEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the $ C0 ^3 B/ p/ i# b0 ^+ zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants % a$ b8 T, E1 s& Yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ X2 W4 B; f2 i/ B5 h0 ]
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 4 f5 S8 U9 v: \9 e8 [# eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 2 |# k9 t. L: z7 L, ?- { Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 u5 i/ e3 }0 T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and - D7 j9 L; A0 Y* u ^% _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ) X- P$ t5 c. V& U1 Ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 S3 a0 W( |( v( D6 }9 y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. " z5 z: s8 t( V$ P" }8 B8 A; h" Q3 ^ 4 C6 d1 f0 Z+ O7 ?! K" sThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 6 L- M7 S" |: `. O" |/ X) C! L- Y/ iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and # w1 w2 Z$ O- A% {, n' qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. x u0 Z6 _" u1 A+ _# e& ?
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) }6 i% B8 x& ~7 A7 t0 @0 L* m& j3 Z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 9 v. A. m9 r5 O/ Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ! D2 z$ J) c7 W# Vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 6 W' k3 K8 J0 Z5 B0 Z# VDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 B& C6 }, Q: S6 _8 z1 [1 u# D
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 ~( Z$ W- J0 U
charge the fee defined by the state. & l) h$ o4 V8 u5 s& M. S: Y# v$ a8 d f6 \& E5 r! F
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 4 b+ V+ c' r4 }1 D2 Son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ' Q; t( b3 Z6 K2 c+ J/ X+ V& h% T6 Dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# r% a+ h2 w* D2 `* b4 a7 D
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel : t, W& _0 o" l4 i( bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 @3 _- V# b8 {, Z/ h K; n1 z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ; y6 N2 k9 R1 K; p4 h) W1 Fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 g8 l2 Z; e$ W. a
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ r6 F$ E2 v& M9 v. [" t* ]- F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch E7 b) P1 R- g0 i0 m" u" Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 6 L# L" ~1 h5 I8 c2 lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 8 P( e! O2 ^- H7 c9 T; J# Q: O* S8 rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# F2 @/ R0 {* s( I; g
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( t B" y; R. H! w! g# y. a. S
are spaces. : X# c x! j7 t; F) _7 z: A3 q1 w( x* G; \6 J% H& P
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 2 x$ ?. b* h" _9 r1 Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 7 P: A I# b% pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' x' z; f* Y0 n9 _; i9 x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ; b5 l, Y' ~' ]5 {parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 5 I3 J* a- H( R( E' Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. h4 ~" D% J" B7 A3 O5 k% c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 X- f* |9 t _: F9 g" p; J
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ |) y/ |4 s' S$ |
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 O7 ?% k6 j7 V6 l( A
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! O/ l" z5 S, x0 m T
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all+ y, h: ]+ L7 T& U
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very# J% f* F- ^5 Y8 J7 v' I; C/ G4 ?
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep: Q. _2 u) j( h, ?
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 4 X5 ]( v! _1 K& S8 I5 k* `7 zsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of9 p; N, k% K9 d I( L
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms) ^, M4 g- [& k# s1 P) _+ e+ P
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the" H" y* M' Q, b. d
tourist area.0 j n/ m$ p' E. P- u: O' K
" Y, Y" X9 i- |+ b$ g) D7 s: L$ eOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ) p) P$ H1 o# S7 f; o" b" Q2 spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).# ~$ c d v( {3 J
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were7 i2 z; ]0 ` e2 |/ C
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 7 |7 Y; Y& l% B8 ^less leader-religious.0 Y3 x7 w. g+ Y# l z
$ B5 c. f% E% K$ [" e
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba - N7 q6 v2 n3 \6 I5 k" \, qgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ' r- ^5 Y7 e% \' @$ Z0 z3 ublack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US; W; P- e9 l% `8 u; u
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). % v' `2 ?9 o- n& F& d o$ B! R# L/ |% F0 ~- B0 W* {5 j* k8 n
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the+ `" _6 P& X4 K8 K6 ~
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 8 g) c1 o2 J: z8 pthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $13 H: P( @! c. B/ o: n$ G4 e
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for " p2 s, F$ H! Rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars& s& z# D5 P8 S- c a4 T
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we4 p) w- x& q: ^* \
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the % G! X3 A1 I' r# z' V3 Breal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. . W5 L, ~& ?7 |And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local# n) E8 G3 [/ o6 C3 r/ X, M4 m) p
or visitors. # u/ B; l& K9 q' m# ]9 |3 \ _9 S" A+ n; k' X8 R2 O) N-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
