We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ]& t& w* S# B
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we & P, v7 H+ O+ p3 Z* I- Ywanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible./ a( r$ }0 n% K( Y3 C7 d
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,; L7 M( \' ^' m- H/ `
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in" C+ n% N2 q7 P2 Y# |" Q3 s. R
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 9 Z' z- T- @7 Q% Gpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort/ g D) j# ], t
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep / w" r0 c9 N5 a$ V3 O7 ^2 O& ?between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the: |& U. s2 J) l; @( m8 J; H# k
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, l: O) C: F2 C1 M0 |with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.2 F3 y# C: c: B
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but 2 Z7 \4 |; m( Q6 l Hnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not1 y3 _* ^ ^; @
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our0 f( `3 ~0 {& ~
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 5 B) @. c3 o% T7 @! g& C' Ma roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards./ s: A1 ]% A% s, k- S+ n5 |2 _; p! K6 J
% W5 R1 V5 V& A1 |' uThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,; d" S% f7 }( q
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool; g- D5 Z4 {: _0 Y( _4 O8 C
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top + Q3 B+ t/ z6 ?" F3 L6 ]of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the / F8 ^9 \9 f: }2 mstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ' i" ]4 w+ {0 ?. i) C6 P$ w# m49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes7 z: }0 B0 K/ s6 I' E# J
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with6 F6 J# L5 o1 w0 y5 y7 c2 m
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. $ U$ {) G' x/ ~5 v% S9 k8 e 4 U T; _# l& A0 W+ HThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are9 ?; U' T0 G; ^/ ~$ v! m* @* X
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ! M% N9 |5 |' gfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba% I L+ C$ @" W7 r( S3 ?# r
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having- ]6 @, @! V2 b7 h
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ( f/ R# g a4 N6 w( M# |7 v1 Pdaily 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 ' y- Q& ]" T6 q! |9 f4 U8 nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 3 }7 ~- O2 V( E; U1 d6 h/ Z' @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, + z1 S6 T6 x* O, l C* P1 A' ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give + Y) f( a/ c! [answers to our pointed questions.$ C3 F9 Z6 Q" {7 ]% L" z
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, - V2 v6 D4 l/ w4 g6 \* P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 Z$ C- I q% o% O9 p
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 G. V R) o; f \# j. L
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: \0 W% w- P2 r k" Y* ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ S! ?) B- G/ f! S
medical schools.1 s; B/ k) b" n: A* O9 R0 W
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the x3 Q, q* p2 D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ \# @4 Z( i3 x1 j9 |! j, c
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ( ^5 n3 f2 v% ^, qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 1 F6 \6 v5 i! bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 2 q+ [% o, S' k5 h, e D9 P+ d. B1 E, Dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: G# Y8 f X1 p, X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 4 \6 S, U" g. E+ b8 ~9 {+ Smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ; _2 m2 Q# z7 P$ W: A! U$ r( Ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some( P& C3 d6 U9 Q/ \& p
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* Z) F/ ?- X3 _5 ]( h
2 T4 C- S. B( Q# y
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 N# I! [8 l% b/ V
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and * A& H W$ f! Osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 }2 S# @# m$ k, Y8 G& \5 _
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ u8 Q1 ^# n* L6 {, y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 v& }! I, X l/ k
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 Y* d* ~' C- L6 a2 ^+ I9 H
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. & J# a0 a7 |5 p: TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 i7 ?( n2 u/ D3 A( k( y, H7 n. `
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 V" D/ L6 z' |0 h! k \
charge the fee defined by the state. : _: p: W6 L8 [ * E4 N1 {8 K1 ]4 h4 [9 VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! \! R" z5 K( Y& k s; `3 { L8 p
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 9 z$ P) x p$ B+ H# S7 m- Zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big : u/ x" o8 r# f* c3 Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel % u6 X, F8 M [0 g$ l4 b1 nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the $ N+ j, d3 p/ y8 b- d, hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 M/ V0 i0 d1 w. r7 E* x
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if . o7 R: A7 C( H9 l& Ayou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 2 \) B' t8 C8 \( c5 w9 _- h1 M; [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 p1 L' a0 ]4 b* R: ^# V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that * p7 m3 V$ g/ V& l; X' [people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ( |( D% E/ [( T% j0 Zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 5 }+ v9 x/ |2 D$ F1 Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ' }: G! P& I' V. k% ^are spaces.# z- i" k S" K! T3 q
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi h+ n# {4 G) d& F, o9 C* Z& ]7 [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they - z, D' o7 P6 i. vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ) {# R$ P$ t: k/ k. r) x' c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) {7 P) t# @% V7 P
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ~5 T- j# T* }) f+ J/ U
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 G$ i$ ?7 W# ]& I( E2 j- U
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ K# T* A3 ~2 h; ^& u }' o, m
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 2 U0 {# D- l3 l+ h8 j" J% B2 O; f! ^# Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 x3 V, n( I. `. x& ?0 H
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 8 @9 V, ~$ p9 Q9 s( r3 J1 \6 G7 mspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all , a8 V! K# g( t$ n& v& \the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very( }. l& [- ?5 E6 _% \- F
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 2 m. W8 R- c* Wrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day" {6 l7 t0 e- F4 O) F8 `2 b
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of+ j/ c) [4 h2 \6 \7 c5 [
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms " Z9 b. r1 J1 {* J9 k+ D) |have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the / N6 g8 K1 ]7 s9 b- X$ Ntourist area. 3 X; T, k2 ^6 H* F0 F , O% F+ f/ J2 l$ Q, QOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's- B* |! z, |# T% O
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). c* n: A5 e' i6 j& O- L/ ECompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 3 t% v' w" m: @, J* _everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 4 x5 C4 b1 Z& k3 n
less leader-religious. & _9 u. ~* h, H4 S* |5 ~3 | % y9 |+ g. V: o6 w1 |About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba, C; {4 |& R9 I ~8 a' @+ `
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big& K+ g- U4 D4 H5 }! c
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US0 r0 s* x. ]8 \9 ?" W# j( N, x
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 7 T% C7 V) F+ e% |8 r9 k8 j7 [8 x" `6 |8 |7 Y) t
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 1 t2 F$ ^8 P5 G8 v0 Nparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; a4 n- N8 L9 T- g3 y
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 : }/ C4 T+ f$ t$ a- r2 ?9 P; c6 aconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for+ a h$ r' [4 X6 Y
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 0 T) Z$ u; d' t7 M' C* R(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we5 s/ z: J5 h+ i6 c5 k+ g- F
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the * d5 l: ~$ @. q( @real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. " s% y3 q$ R# F; i4 HAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local , \$ ]1 ]4 m( jor visitors. V+ p; ~7 j+ p7 Q8 @0 X$ l. Z" _4 _( ?
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
