We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very a- y% q3 h3 \- g$ pinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we2 N! p( Q2 [4 ~; M2 Q/ u
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 4 Y1 j5 ` z& E/ H1 L0 g/ w2 f( P. J
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,0 Y6 ~+ D! U1 Y
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in / E; W* e) r$ d' a( f' }& La very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as% Z" d* X( l( }
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 7 _ E) z! Z) ?9 q4 |7 @show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep1 X5 C7 B) W& i6 |. I
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 9 l! P4 l% P0 blobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ; x b% ]) \5 V* n# C2 {+ Mwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 9 D; I2 Y/ d9 J& ` People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but: y( |0 W: x; i
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ; `% L7 l; E/ k" `) l* m6 o- ]' wexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ! W% P1 e: K0 `flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through , ]4 L3 u5 A( F4 J: ]8 j6 u( {: Ma roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.3 ?9 a$ |' a& A5 B g4 ~- D5 K
: y" W/ n2 i8 i; x) tThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,. q: d+ a5 e# [* F. P c7 d
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool u8 O+ v! G$ I(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top # ` ^; _. p; b5 W, F# Rof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the$ s$ t" `$ A, F- N( o
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from& f) D" k$ d6 Z% \0 E3 Q
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes) x. U+ a$ w+ o$ K
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with+ d3 b" q( U0 c1 b1 Y" E f2 _
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ( U* P) W& c( |2 J+ _2 K ; c" A1 y+ L- l/ ^% o s' Y5 J* |The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 0 Z( i6 e! k: Ajust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made- g" e; @- {5 W- e: a! L2 x
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba : o% f, z1 }- H7 p& h* Dtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having5 P1 k0 I: p* x$ {' n
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China- n& F `: s2 G! Z' Y% m3 ^
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. _$ ]* j4 x9 A# y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went : ^* l: y+ T8 lon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, . \. I; `9 z# B/ B6 T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give % g9 j$ [; `& _9 p$ Danswers to our pointed questions.: ?* H, e' E( X5 D3 i+ X
- U, U; L+ H& Y gThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, G# e- D5 E- a+ m4 {1 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ) `' G6 F* d6 h, ?* i) X' _out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 I1 a i1 M% F* D: m9 a6 q1 X7 c: E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 x- a- z) U8 K7 J8 E
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 2 C: d* e3 R* \! I( @" hmedical schools.3 S9 ]9 n7 g+ ?: D
+ F" d+ l6 _% Q1 O: Z2 |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 5 z8 u C& P! t2 B* t8 egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 _& R: O& t7 m0 L! g
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ Z7 N* E! x# N: E! M
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- R$ o& [: K! N: ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to N5 C. I/ `, ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. x2 _- _; \2 m9 Q. _2 h8 K( F& S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% ~: s3 s, A- D, ^2 s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk , d ~8 ]9 ^4 {shortage which the government is addressing by converting some n) j9 {1 o, {sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. , X7 V2 E( q. i; u6 W. q # w. ~8 G6 J! G! \The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! u) y1 I1 A) d- y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ' u/ o9 j/ U( V9 Wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! n6 x8 d+ [2 C w
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' ~3 m0 ?3 q; R
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: ^$ J" z" _+ s3 p- L9 p" Y: H
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high / Y2 o7 A' O+ ?8 J9 N4 Qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 d- h% W5 l9 F# S% W$ J3 t- p" Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 7 k. u3 P3 ]3 _- P1 Qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 Y/ \6 g$ d* f: A1 t; p# |
charge the fee defined by the state. 0 ^6 ^3 K6 B3 ~: ~* ` 6 ^! r, k. V( y: t0 eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ [2 j1 Q2 K' ~" [8 B2 \/ u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( m8 k: W' y$ U- L
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 6 A1 J! A- b9 O0 L. Etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ( x9 `2 l9 e* fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 k8 t) k( ]+ O+ T
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on , t1 A/ i& S* F6 X* a2 ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 9 H! C! }6 U$ g/ K8 J1 ]( x" ^- ~' Vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 5 O% G @. m- ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 8 k) a! y: g2 C' B0 Q& j& y9 Shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" T4 R/ ~4 |" k# t
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 t0 F' T; Z+ ]9 w1 e
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 9 t' Y9 i2 ]7 U* J* fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 4 R2 s0 j; j# _5 U5 m/ w4 H" Ware spaces. # R* R2 B# A. A* ]5 \0 B5 P' ?3 p5 o: l
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 4 S, T& B9 t/ Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- A% ?% H4 U" O; F; d9 P* b
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ; N _/ p* ?; N. ^9 a40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 p6 V) s5 \4 Y' m6 s( U: \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 6 Z$ X3 s9 q' T4 Z- z8 z# sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 7 i$ i4 e1 l" i; dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of : Z9 ^& j5 Z; M- G% mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ' V6 [ t6 |* N$ X% f. I, k, Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. + y3 d& g/ Y2 ^& ` 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 beautiful8 L0 t, U& h! H% z/ m
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 0 a3 o2 y6 v' _# V( Dthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 2 @( a5 u# Z. ^- ^# q- n6 Glimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep# u' c. P6 [ j8 Y
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day , r' k; @9 S. F% w6 f; jsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of, E" l# O1 F; Q" \; o& ^
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms$ F$ i% V8 f9 C" [2 G
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the& T- m; ]) v) [( J7 I
tourist area. ) r( g/ ^) n' G+ y , L2 n4 b6 X- O N' c4 _( xOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's* U) [: D+ A7 ?2 M, V. T
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).1 { F& V. B' y2 F9 ]
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were $ M$ r8 X/ X- C) Q: t2 F0 Q* Keverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + J0 _# k4 e3 l4 F* S+ K+ c" jless leader-religious.2 B$ d/ r4 B" e# ?7 _6 q
9 a( h4 p3 E6 ^3 v1 g. n/ I: Z: Z& ?About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 1 V6 y4 L1 T/ f9 e/ rgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big9 l1 @ J% [; Q* M3 {$ K. b
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US4 M5 B" M& T( h7 Y. m
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).$ H# N" h* m8 A" P8 M8 O5 i2 Z
1 x) o5 v, M; Z+ \We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the + [* I# f% m; V# c6 Oparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 4 S' h. X- G/ w( _. @7 Mthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $10 @5 y4 _8 d6 H' ~% V' c# I# s6 s* X
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for: A% o/ A8 T1 a! g
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars $ F+ I0 L+ w' f4 X5 f(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 4 L+ L6 o) a) I8 K1 R' qprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the: Y, B! t |/ q5 Y9 L5 j
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. I9 N3 \ o/ X7 q
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local# J% A6 e @0 D0 g$ Q( }' ^/ P
or visitors. 0 i2 r0 ?* W7 D) b! S$ ?2 _& P 4 d2 N% |% M1 L6 B$ X0 g$ X, s0 y4 n# V-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
