We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 3 e3 ~) _' _* @+ _" \0 xinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we * J0 Q1 i0 ]2 S2 _wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 3 K2 G: L& ^$ D4 }8 B) B9 a. @ ( x0 F9 S* ?# X/ UIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,) { {0 ?9 e3 @9 I C
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 6 e' a$ R j4 l; j7 Wa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ) K) H1 R% W% i" vpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort : \3 n G( C; _; sshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep0 U" \1 Y5 A# M
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the" ~% B `" ?& K4 ^2 X$ S
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, - f2 W8 H! n. x- p4 V( S9 \4 e0 Awith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.6 M& \* h; u! b5 c5 E) \$ B0 X
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but0 U* N4 Z* V3 Y% U
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not & e( O+ \2 s( V$ Iexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our8 }* v9 A" g, P! e/ k. b
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through ) t5 i! g" h) {a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.- [* c `! Z8 C; o# q- q
8 W' U. U5 A1 X8 U6 H5 S% x+ C
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, U/ H5 D6 N+ ?' D9 `$ c
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 1 V n8 z4 K+ p# n: y& I8 c(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top5 e* w! a6 ^$ p+ @" ^$ y& P2 D6 Q% U
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 4 h/ g4 A' e$ lstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from C/ s. Q/ \/ G5 u1 X8 b3 ^2 x49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes - b% ]- c2 G+ V" r& mCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with0 t, n6 B# z, _9 ?, }+ b9 V3 k& M
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ( S. M, G- x0 K5 w8 w. c( {0 S. b" c8 V6 b" Z; C! l4 z
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are3 h. H1 y4 h% n6 X
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 8 i, {7 h7 ?, y/ A4 q+ ^for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba V2 d6 ?0 P8 ~5 Q% g; W
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 0 ^7 ~8 e g1 ]# H- @5 N" Da staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China6 v6 t( @9 ?0 {! d. q
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 r, \# H [% e3 I" g+ _standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 p: l0 j( s( }+ `" W6 ^3 i' x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 N; M3 R& l2 G6 q$ a) |3 P6 B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% K3 {6 T5 Z) p/ w
answers to our pointed questions. 8 x9 G" ~# c$ L z4 |6 k " m; o$ j$ i: ]: r+ PThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, & D! W7 r6 K' d# Q/ j45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 w# ~& C1 i# o/ m/ s7 i8 h9 @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is `" p0 [: B9 X! @" R- c0 \* {1 Y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 5 f9 n* O7 J, q& k5 nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are # t; H5 {: O4 a- X" g. gmedical schools. : l% _, h! I! A7 @3 Z/ w3 e6 }" c Z# d# q
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the , p& T/ Q& ?7 z& |! ]; jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 9 n" U+ G r- V8 y7 Gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( }9 H# l- ^" b+ Z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! e/ ^7 T# Q# g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 h4 V; I e; t6 P$ r! Z4 Y9 g
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% ]# Z% y3 z+ Q$ B
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and + C& {3 u. C" f$ w9 g1 ~mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk " B! z7 u; k' \% n. Nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some; {( o4 q+ G/ r8 s0 |6 |3 O
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 5 p; y, O( A! X1 E$ `" |) h/ M& r/ u0 |% j1 a
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no * \- ~) A/ o- m/ Gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 U( A( a `. N4 v" c! u: r
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people # x% C: S1 e) T$ F; A$ v# [% qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 }$ i5 K- p- y4 [9 ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' f8 J! B% M4 J4 W) k& m% @
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 g8 N( F4 J# N- V; k" G
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. - P$ R3 E4 D ]0 Y+ p) U. r" O7 ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 d( q0 z/ x$ z5 G9 E
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# H4 t: o! L" y9 [
charge the fee defined by the state. 5 v' Y7 e% v$ f4 Y" y& G& y) `; F; m
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 7 g5 s1 Y- W9 @4 z1 Jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ( O. o0 j( M# r6 H4 J3 ?6 i) _of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ H2 J1 ?' [' u5 u/ {& K4 s
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ]$ O/ C% ^$ J, e- hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 f2 s2 [" \ o7 v) t! J }: f' B
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on / R- z' [& V* Q) cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 2 N" T# M# n" y4 Z' \( Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& w! h% l2 U6 |; t7 E+ e( {6 e3 W, C Z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 7 u+ Y$ k' K8 } Bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 0 M- n( ?: S, E# E/ u0 Q0 |8 Upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 7 Q/ w0 p' a$ g* [# I2 u2 ?to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 5 z( ]0 _8 J: y6 ]8 R2 B: Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& b- Z0 N( b' B3 L. j+ i# P& S
are spaces.5 [* z d" k8 a" G) K; w
* H3 w) v* {! l2 J5 Z- T" xThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi & V- x2 O9 z4 Q) Q7 G' Jto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# o" \- _4 }/ w' a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) B: G9 U! a9 W) ?( J5 B( ]1 l2 o
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 g9 y) C* b) R# X! t
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 5 h$ `+ b. d/ D6 @best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 t) i9 _ v' n( ]8 ? E, T+ ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 _8 r/ D; n3 m5 L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it & u$ Y+ P& E3 M! sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. : S" n- R" \0 _/ a0 B, G, P 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 9 l4 G& v q `( |spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all & }/ g5 d- G' R/ K; ethe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very& @! L- @& i( p: y( q
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep; y# G2 _! e) J; n# Q8 s& f
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day8 d! F* s$ j, q# R; e5 `
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of* G- `* {$ h" N
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms$ Q- a4 W, c7 q: k' c
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the $ v% _( L) `# s4 D- X" p, Jtourist area.) \0 W+ b" E+ q( y$ h0 R
# s* k' V6 g) ?* x5 @One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's- o0 H- Y. z9 g4 w$ c
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).6 D0 ~& u5 W G) v( I2 V! s
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were Q) |& m" o" K8 `3 W( oeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps $ |3 Q4 M; v: @$ o$ Q& @" h0 rless leader-religious. $ H% F M( p+ \+ c. _, s/ Q1 \$ ~7 M" @1 p# |% j1 T' S
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba" f2 t$ y8 p, ~) ]0 c
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big# C6 j7 K \* K
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US + M: L5 V! R- I5 \embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). * X6 t% C5 y! t7 [; O7 U" a% x/ T. e! o0 {8 x2 l/ x6 a
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the2 S5 B o6 ]+ [1 b: h% R: u
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not, B8 l/ o: b( { T; I3 e& i( U
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $15 s; c: [' C) j/ X f( M% ^
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for: E8 a7 e9 f4 O
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars; T, ~! F) O7 q L$ H
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we # T, Z0 [- \7 e8 kprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the' z* J8 ?6 U( b+ o9 K
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. % q. M" x9 s& \8 G! T' K$ u/ iAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local ) K+ t1 P" u6 N0 z: z7 @9 por visitors. * i0 T% }# o& t1 L 9 o2 u) @5 Y. o" U! e-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
