We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very v1 I% G2 p- t4 A4 g# {interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we7 t/ h7 D4 V( k& N
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ' G9 R" f2 c3 L4 r& W" i' m& j2 }! P3 V1 Y- [ R
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,6 \( ^( M2 Z, f, i( Q
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 7 @, ]$ s- Z) Ga very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as : h8 |3 a3 w# J+ u6 Bpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 8 B. z* Q5 N, S& c2 eshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep( k0 N' }. F5 \7 t5 D
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 8 u: z7 F! A! ]# [) Zlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 8 }% j% C! z' l h0 f4 M! v& E: xwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.* o3 b4 S/ ]. c
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but7 n5 k4 i( x ^/ R
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not9 l8 V: U# H" {. W% M( c% P9 X) y
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our / t4 c2 c/ |( D3 _flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through3 ]5 k) g u3 X0 y, n) N
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.! \; l+ g9 H b8 I5 K
# m1 q" H) [2 M' v& f; ?The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,9 s0 \" }" Q6 p( Y* t' p, b
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool) Y7 @; C1 u$ ?7 @ b- w E
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 _- ^# |2 L9 Z. B: x2 @of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 8 y6 d9 c/ b# k( x8 U; |stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from+ N; {5 y+ S8 Y* {
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes) g2 J* W- Q4 F) ]# Q8 I4 H
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 6 ]7 C, d7 ~5 F3 i: u# Cfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 0 e4 K+ o6 v, H- N3 ^- ~, A7 r) d- u. g# }0 ?1 ]3 v
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are5 M& w Y$ e5 G: ?
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made. b; _; S3 ]3 p" \; @" s4 M
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba% e s$ I+ h! \' c, s' D
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having" [* m2 }+ K6 ? [5 D# W/ O
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China K# ^5 g0 t# M6 j5 m8 |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, living7 d0 \# X# E) F: ^% ?
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) R: h8 a9 o! o$ K6 w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ! i) a4 e. f1 k- M W- Z- n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give + X7 S6 f8 t) a: Ganswers to our pointed questions. 6 r, ^& A h1 i% H' `3 Z( x' l8 y. [$ c: |8 _( ]1 J
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, / q8 c% W5 `4 g* q& R/ t45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ' I; g1 \' `# h, W: ^out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ! u5 \6 w/ P0 F4 B* hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams : `5 F1 F& J6 B4 e; t% bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, G0 f* z4 v+ |, L
medical schools. : m p+ ^; z4 B* i 2 \# Y# C0 o0 r" k1 M3 z/ TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ' p4 v. v- ^4 ^! B& {government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 I7 f$ R4 O% v; b) R5 C
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years f9 g# F1 {& ` L+ F5 {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba x5 H' o: t0 K% l' `7 Tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to " w" I/ F5 f; J5 Uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ( Q2 T; ~2 A# t7 U3 p/ g+ n, Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 N' @7 x2 y% x" F3 t$ |5 O
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! s+ _6 \. d$ r1 i
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some: X3 C9 G4 s) L0 M7 f9 }9 }3 {+ _( l0 r
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 c o7 K8 |$ j4 {. p
) a2 {! ~$ |- R RThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no % i; G+ l3 J$ i( b) A' ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 A7 T1 _# V n
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# a5 y( ?/ U1 l$ l3 Q3 Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good P( d3 s: P* p1 j1 U0 `
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- g9 Q) ?7 E) M ?8 R8 b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high * N G' _9 }, m1 @7 |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 5 p3 J' Q! X( ^, n0 UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 x' t# s6 ]" n+ p* {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ) h# ~% j% f5 H# ?& {1 \/ y2 echarge the fee defined by the state. : R0 p4 d9 G2 j 5 q3 V: i9 C2 wThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 1 R0 z8 o" \0 i0 ~9 gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" N. [- `+ Q9 F& {+ Z! X7 [
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 8 S& ~" c, s; N: P9 K+ N0 ]truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel f9 ?3 V0 H/ \# \* r$ vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the , j( z# H" w/ L; N; sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ' r8 v9 ^ E' w @9 S: qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 2 k4 c$ w( E% Wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people % ~8 s- C+ G$ _5 A# ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch I: n% _& G( S4 E6 p7 r4 D
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 A- D$ v7 U9 c- W2 y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 ?8 e. G5 y6 C, c( Y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or |* p/ _! e2 d# ^5 @; Q. ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 7 {: J9 F; Z2 Care spaces.8 t @/ U% L5 B. R! V# i# x+ u3 F
% _0 `; v, ^1 y) @: g" I7 }
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi " Z: \% _- J9 y2 hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 3 H u: o1 \# d: fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 6 ]- {# I) {6 ^40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different ! f# B" `" x( m* d5 A8 _* cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 1 a6 b% H+ ]" @0 k" \best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few # W2 Z Y/ Z8 P, Y5 u! E; Pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! [8 u1 f6 _; q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 3 E/ N" d) g7 D& Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ) T1 H7 K# P9 a( ?5 {5 `9 [" L: e6 @ 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 j; B; t" x0 Espots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 7 T9 [2 m0 E" j5 u+ wthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 9 v5 d5 d! H+ a$ llimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ; ]2 z6 Y) L7 @( e( q- E# }3 w* b% Wrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day% M3 K. F; G* |5 } Z# p
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of( Y- C: G1 G: b. M& ~
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 2 J6 z2 M7 H2 |$ I( qhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 6 g" k! B. j- c3 [0 J* b5 E1 Utourist area. # }* `) o' c0 A5 G0 D I8 [ 2 `* @: y0 ]* I/ f6 r. iOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ( [; }5 s8 |. ~pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).4 I# v) X4 O0 Q! B$ q( a
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were" L. U; M7 i# f$ Q% k
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 3 v0 ^7 s. J( h! Aless leader-religious." H9 [0 G& _8 u u; J4 G8 l4 l% y, [( W
, t: H, I' i. a8 [2 ?4 b ~About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba " W- ]6 B% f- Tgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big" m% N' c' d! W$ p- \
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US, Q7 t# m- D+ b) j
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 A, g+ z% ^/ I, [
! m$ @# Y+ Y+ ?0 c9 {2 r
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the/ i# v: X* n5 J* C5 [7 P% |
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not / {8 u/ f7 i: ]6 fthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1: n, O2 V: m8 |0 h
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 8 H# _, u& I4 mforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ) `* p: p J2 b: C: q: l(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we , Z% k3 ]) D; f( d- e) Mprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ( Z. V% D; a+ P7 r0 |/ treal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 8 j/ M6 b+ R6 E6 O3 PAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ! y) H- `; y2 j( {or visitors. - C6 m0 X: }$ z! P ' v! O) j) N9 z0 ?-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
