We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very7 Q; q, ?. @7 J- t+ ^; b1 ]
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we- c2 ]# c' x7 J; ]
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ; s; I; O9 X4 S0 X8 e) u( i& t, a- V3 o
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,' [/ z0 s7 ]( D x) I2 y, b8 E
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in $ X: b3 ?' Z) p7 n. Ia very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 3 ]$ k1 w4 R" O' W: E; |# Hpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort Y, z: W6 w7 M1 e6 t8 u1 a7 j
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep7 K. u% z) \/ @0 a$ {/ q
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ( t7 w+ ^8 Z+ s8 xlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, * S D) A1 ]' \! l: R) ~ |0 mwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ( n/ F% v$ H) r6 E; C5 t1 o1 ? People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but . y. S, N7 t7 K d; \ dnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ( m- _+ Z- z1 r1 z7 q" Iexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our A' l/ s6 E4 w- A6 e, c. qflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through , N1 X0 n( U$ O4 }7 X7 wa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.- z2 Y+ w$ ]9 j- O# s' O9 O
- _4 f0 K1 t" v2 ^- D8 i
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,* @0 D( E3 t1 s6 |$ u
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool _) k# \4 i. h(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 3 }7 h1 M% }. F% |6 k6 }of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the , x; W" \2 p3 T/ h* T/ N5 Kstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from% `. O4 S, I& m) x3 H. ~; J
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 8 k( N- g+ b. k* j2 L$ i* z/ ~# BCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 2 v" T5 k9 c ofingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. g9 Q2 c( x/ C. F0 c. I) r7 D# ]0 [: A) R6 P5 [; G% `
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are% d. }; s+ o8 ]" {* [. f
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made * A: {" l. J8 H' K0 B, X2 l- yfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba " ~& s. i* y, V5 b1 r. \) ?tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having0 e) L9 |$ e5 l$ ~1 I
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China # m2 b' r+ L, G7 q. a) k( Y$ Xdaily 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, living7 o+ Q8 g9 D4 ]8 v7 b
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went. ]" F6 [# i- m% a, [
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; D0 F% t2 `2 L& y4 V$ J* `; _2 [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ K% @" N' n) m" E |1 ?! o3 E) p
answers to our pointed questions. ; J9 O& V- C M5 P9 L7 U- ]& a( `" b
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ! `/ M; G' Z0 h! {2 R# p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ x2 Z }2 D4 O& x4 }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is k0 S1 k3 E1 O( H: G' mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 4 ?% e( p3 h7 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% ^" _+ z+ p5 a8 K# W
medical schools.% U, z$ h D) J, Z( W: m0 c
: j3 p7 K$ C- eEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 5 n6 b( {( x, Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 3 G- o6 d* r/ S- B2 m6 w2 cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 6 ^4 B& ]% N; t, wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 8 ]0 ~% K( f8 ], k1 wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 k! h' ]+ W& |/ k$ R# b& `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ( ~" X$ ` C6 y5 E- \4 _' F1 Xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 F3 q3 V) Q3 U/ N2 q/ ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# q) ?2 f" |* W# P7 A/ f8 P: D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 G( x8 u! e( X: M L4 i" z6 s1 q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 4 P) c' N9 {- L5 G/ v: R 0 ^& z1 U( Q+ ]7 ^: c4 OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no + t6 L* J4 |" N6 B) ^$ i* iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ( K7 f" W3 v# O9 m8 l$ @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' _/ m2 [' K; ~% c: Z0 v( ^7 V
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good $ B3 P: y# d2 zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 9 F5 i$ A2 V3 \$ k0 d5 F- esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 0 b- I0 a$ s3 B) u" l, R$ Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 6 H: P1 _. D5 A! j) L& nDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When v" h |: r4 ?! K+ b* Q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only y7 ^1 Z d8 H; P
charge the fee defined by the state.4 H5 N5 ^* T5 |& d. ^: `$ R
, G* D0 P7 a% e( A1 r0 nThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 9 ?2 |8 x5 {4 R; e- r( P* P$ U. d9 oon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 3 s( Q" I1 W' D: z) P# a! Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big % L% a4 |7 }1 e+ Z" I' j% ktruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 8 _0 I) Y$ B% X: h; h# O3 v3 Sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 2 |+ d% `: h+ R2 A3 _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& L8 I& L* O: ?# T; e4 u8 @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 p2 X7 B: Z* [
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 5 F: q, Y! a7 m" ^( x) T% utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch Y; t& U x$ J) g/ x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that $ }* X4 A4 K; }. P) E Y( Y; rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 @9 ^$ d# ]6 z* k# H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or # J; g, D& O5 ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 6 x+ E+ M1 B; H$ kare spaces. " W } @1 ]) \: L9 q, j0 Q5 k6 j& o4 A2 i9 |, U4 e) J
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi / X: G) ]4 G( K! W1 ?, qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: X! Q/ q x: q# E+ A7 p; j3 D
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the & m2 b! _; G# M40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# X$ E( p% L. x- s0 x& m, r5 z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 Z1 C+ v6 A# B
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& [, U: ?2 u' u. b2 H
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 s! c- q' D# [# v# ]4 `$ v: h/ W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it * j- X. _ @! Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. J" \7 x% B3 c' s1 ~+ q& _* T
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 0 p1 Z' l- Q" m. B/ kspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all z3 F( N$ }# `% A$ G9 J
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very$ V6 U8 P# y2 W: Y* w
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep* S$ [+ k/ t+ y& X# c E
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day( y9 H6 F( [( x9 [ D7 J
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of A6 Q& i+ [3 z$ h9 x' [
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms ( H6 e5 c# u) \have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ( a3 |0 e0 B' B4 J0 Q9 M. ^+ o* dtourist area. ) Y5 L4 K- S8 n ], f. R5 E& D, A1 z- t
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ; L; n3 W; O, ~1 d" n. v' [. Upictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)., l/ G5 H. d0 m+ o3 b
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were( |" h, o ?, n( s' C, C( B
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps \" c8 T! Y0 |less leader-religious.7 z, E$ P, s. y' t& _- a; W. y
* A. M @+ r# X9 T2 y/ C: f9 z1 s
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ' y W4 `6 C4 c3 X1 Xgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big. \- Y* W3 i! h1 N
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 8 R& E2 ]4 O1 [! \# J+ jembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).* r- i5 [+ m3 K1 I4 w
* _3 d" `0 |, d- OWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the2 R/ O8 h2 b- n. b9 r# r
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ' [, h$ v: e1 v8 } _# U l9 Lthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1" ?; d0 Y: r# P" C! v+ \. v+ A# {
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for; D9 @5 l. V7 u: O+ t( b
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars: W$ F0 N u9 q, B
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we8 q3 M" ~+ b. B4 w, `
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the u; R& |; h6 z( j; M
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going." a1 ?9 O' F* O2 z
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local " ~* m1 J) Q; e- J, g4 Mor visitors. & z7 w* t/ ^8 I" F& m2 c 6 J. x- w( O6 z3 K. ^8 h/ B-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
