We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very' @( x% }1 ~- ]; w8 L. E m5 k
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we" F0 e5 X/ E8 L4 q: _
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. / k2 e) E1 I; c4 [% }* ^. M& T& v& @) T1 n' b, ?9 ^
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, 8 v& }1 g1 |3 w; ~30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in : ?4 R8 ]8 t. J* ia very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as : J1 ^1 q9 |9 P" _# g2 V" G ^1 }possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort . Q5 I P& I U0 d; Q# R( Bshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep* l% [# B- s( U* I
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the' D9 u' m- k: \* D9 [( V& o
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,2 w+ C+ ?) T' J0 }! ` a0 b) Z
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. + ^, w9 o# ^+ g M People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but; w# y" ~# f8 f. c& [* e
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ ]) p2 F3 R1 j7 T) y; y" R8 A, ^
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our* T! v: |- P, |: w. k
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 9 E6 F4 k7 t$ }# Na roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ! E/ V' _, J7 ]7 m' Q: r ^8 A6 b# Y" J( _1 W, l
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ! w; H7 l- K9 \! i* alow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ) n9 r4 V& A8 D6 V8 M r# s(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 4 j) I1 b8 c. G; `- n" U; T* K( ?& h; ?of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the & N* I1 c M% I- V( K dstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from4 b. X+ e$ _, Z
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 3 f* v/ z+ p0 _1 O' QCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with7 ^$ A+ m' [: S3 i, ~8 A- M
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada., Z; v6 x6 {) t
7 j* ^5 W2 F# K* pThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ( N3 a" ?* @9 x8 z/ djust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 1 J: B6 s' w/ m& Qfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba $ m' U) i. j" i* m. H) Gtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having, m+ i7 t( a7 M! z& f, @
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China9 ~+ X$ ~: t* D6 x7 W; Z& S
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 1 Q! b$ n& l0 Pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! @5 H: `5 B% z5 r1 p6 d$ G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,$ P1 w$ p X i$ m: L
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 w, e& H8 u& t0 d0 Y
answers to our pointed questions. 3 | T6 i# `* N( q! \+ ^4 C0 G% k. c" Q% r- k% p# x
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 5 Q$ W; r; \- d' @7 o" [0 O3 s$ m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; ~; j8 K0 ^$ f' c$ }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is " U# ?/ |# I0 u! r' R: y$ [ U: _free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 I/ e" c8 P) n7 s G8 ~
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 k* \5 Y/ M; I, [
medical schools. 1 H! w2 {& z# B% k 0 x' v) c: `) U9 W9 UEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 }! u' T+ j; L4 Q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 6 n4 y0 E3 R% x5 A+ P8 @to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 8 P$ X5 I# X' M8 o Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba * k u* `4 P, C; T) b4 l5 Eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to # {- u& }) @( N& G* f1 X# gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There # I7 r1 t/ u0 l* e4 f1 }5 S2 vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 d. H& O! }# X) o0 m0 @$ O/ I( L* F3 h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ @& J3 P. h8 G) `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 6 j' h2 V% I M! dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 n- v8 M) Y4 t0 F: F) F
$ Z1 B' C/ J& T* WThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no / W0 `+ N$ V L8 z+ e7 V* x7 {* o' dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 i! b" K4 ]" ~1 K
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 M3 `# T3 @9 Y! \+ X6 w
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good 2 x* b. O4 f1 k% pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ) X( n1 ?. p2 @' }2 fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ! v E& s2 B) ^; c, K0 R1 e/ [divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 g: @" u4 G4 V4 y! Q2 I& |
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! v- Y2 _' I g1 y
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 m% ]1 r& i+ w! U9 J3 Q" T* v- A
charge the fee defined by the state. 6 e, ^ t. z* J3 Q+ n+ L/ _! }) T2 b* a2 R4 ^& `9 y7 D) T3 h: K- L
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, O) b9 U: T4 M/ g- C- h) l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 n$ F" l9 a( p% @9 K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# \ E# S- K4 z9 a/ y( `) C
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 r) s8 h0 z' n- t" I
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# c, \( Z$ X8 Z& z5 y- u3 U L# x8 R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on # z, N' o: A: nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 7 ?5 V: t% p! b/ n1 T# L$ Vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 2 e0 U9 U8 y; {. f% wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% @# o2 L+ z7 E0 Y* l
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' Q9 }" s. v) g2 k: `
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ' {1 z+ _" |' I) f1 c9 \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 c- _: P% D9 C
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) Y1 s* ]0 g% l
are spaces. / Z& d$ h4 O' n2 W* E" t' Q8 M& X ) H- \. _/ J" p: K( ~, OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: k: N6 u( X3 e+ \: {
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 E7 H/ a9 ?% S; O( X& _$ g
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 3 ?! P$ {1 {' i, w1 u2 O7 g40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different . |9 X, @- h7 b# Y' Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) O9 Z' m+ Z$ Q' A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 5 U- v) G7 d3 a) ?6 ~nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 U" t0 n% B( h: A% x) Z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 t" p4 u4 l6 \7 s3 k9 t4 o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., |& _& |! |/ c
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 beautiful1 G, \' A1 w }. F1 C/ ~0 \
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all5 K' s5 B# E6 P' A
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very6 x8 {+ ?6 a, X. c5 P
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep) [: }( s& n, t* P
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day / B' _/ B4 E" B7 Q- N& B/ @3 vsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 5 h# S& q X' M/ l Nthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms" h: J% k8 @. E+ [; E, f) h5 Y5 F
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 3 h; @6 b3 ~; z; |9 j5 \tourist area. t& j- o* h" w4 m7 D# [, e ' S+ t7 t; r! a7 l% l' QOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's& K1 t/ l; P$ @/ ], X# T1 J
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)." g3 i1 g, K+ C2 a" d; D8 Z1 y1 D
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were % _- S) T% r, h0 k4 Leverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps . Z7 g; `8 W/ Z6 d
less leader-religious. ; I! U# j+ A5 l! A8 |, a0 Q% _: F# E1 J
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba7 Z5 N8 U' I/ s6 E: y4 S. Z! ^7 D3 C
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 7 t" |9 F! I# x7 J* Hblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US 8 A6 Y' l: B3 o. w# H1 nembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).5 w% F( s- ]2 i9 U X; N
@3 T& C+ ]' k a) TWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the |& Y9 ~$ d, A/ W3 p$ S
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ; x1 l9 @$ O( L, Z) hthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $16 [4 v* N, c: y
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for & [2 d4 V9 d5 U( o# }6 Kforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars. {% M7 w- z8 p# }
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we. f: N- Y j4 n8 T
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the4 V/ ?0 Q* F) ?3 v; }6 L
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going." v. e' o2 h. K" `5 T$ a) ?: Q
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local C: @* {6 s7 P2 p; ?1 }% H) G$ ^or visitors.; d6 D2 J7 O( Q/ ?7 c* F
0 a6 L8 I: @, ~) z! h
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
