We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very * D! c2 t" Q! S! Z2 ?interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 7 X$ |2 S- B3 ]2 `1 rwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.9 f5 `: m L9 `8 P. e
1 Y$ I3 J: ]* k3 u, lIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,% e& _$ g$ h8 D3 m
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in ) s0 m: a7 Z9 }* Y) Va very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as+ v, E% b; `2 m; v3 @) s9 t& T5 c
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort " J1 i9 a* y5 S. jshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep: ], W: H8 r) Q6 F' R6 H
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ^9 Y- `' U& [: {. r. x! flobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ' y4 T4 l, m) ~with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.1 P2 n& h) N3 d# D# c/ _
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but. J( D# E; p! E; \! i: Y) w+ K! k
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not4 Y( _9 B3 L7 v8 X. w
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our) G0 ^' } Y* p6 u/ C, o
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 3 |' g5 t4 z. E$ v6 la roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.6 r8 c# B' [3 R* o$ O
0 _* k1 x/ j* C! @1 F- jThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, - k- p; d) b/ O6 U! ]low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 3 J9 |! K$ w9 U7 B7 J1 {5 S0 ^(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top4 M8 K5 @8 B& ?- O' y( l8 v( P$ z P( k
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the & U: r4 z$ s9 a- l7 e6 `( Bstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from / E: e4 u# a% \0 U ]/ s9 }9 b49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes & ]) D' \7 \; ?1 }- Z0 |. y, aCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with3 R* }" W/ H2 u3 m
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. y3 G5 { [' g6 k, V w3 k+ e6 g4 M0 |+ B
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are, ]- E6 l( s) ~" ^1 T
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made" b% ?2 b( ~ ]" Z2 L9 B+ T/ v8 Q5 j
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 6 p7 u, Q ]& Y6 w x: Utourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ( O) |' [( D1 b! Y+ Qa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 2 z7 b, u2 C7 o! @8 edaily 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 3 q* `& a7 H2 D8 @, I4 w# Xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 `+ |# F& ], q5 N9 I: k4 Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, : ]/ h& W, _& K4 f, g3 ["George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give a- w; U* U1 l* f
answers to our pointed questions.' R$ t' t t! q! K4 ^1 W
* f1 W# \: C1 aThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 {" _5 n- K7 q$ U* [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- W+ j8 G9 K+ z7 }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 8 ~; x: n1 A+ \7 x" xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 7 G" X: m7 n0 t' f0 G4 Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 8 {" ~# @- L8 W+ `) O [medical schools. " D% n% U% x* M$ M- |* ^ + k y1 |, a) z' }% e5 W5 zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; w# ?& l+ t/ e2 m$ }
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 T5 d `: C m9 g7 b! G
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 8 a9 |) I2 a3 v, V, L" x! xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ) u% ~* J# t' O' U! nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to & X! y4 ~$ t! W. y4 iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 8 V1 g8 l4 Y0 y( D' S0 g; Cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and " s' N- X8 r) M* c4 i. Z( T6 Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( o; }: V+ U) Z7 a: D" p9 }
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 m n$ c. J+ U7 q4 N; s6 C
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ( E" @* A# s- k; `$ z8 c. b# ~% I6 v
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 9 Q: h1 P5 W% h9 k3 nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and - I* t1 _1 z, ^( Y# gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people " Q8 p" }' v0 v* ? P. Qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good & D* Q+ y( P) b" z, {thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 0 H+ E& j) l# y8 L7 J( d0 Qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ' X v6 X; x9 r! S* R- \divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. * I5 P( Z% h0 h8 b! a, vDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! q) g- g; C; R# T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 2 G! H3 `; @. D) A$ ?( k# X) gcharge the fee defined by the state.* T' r& r. A8 F% W: y
8 M8 c2 u; T' f# I( w1 n
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' q9 x% Z- R$ A8 n+ V4 L9 |, T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type2 |' d j: D) p x
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 e, s3 ?5 ^2 ]) @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ' L; u n: d4 N: oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the , Z* j7 w( }5 \7 i: ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on $ U" c3 S1 y/ p1 @. E* x6 O. Gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ( i/ R" r" N3 C2 @: v) x! dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 k! d$ k$ v7 ?7 @- I7 y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch - y; O6 a; b* @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that + d' g) g$ ]4 s0 Z* }1 tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. O( @ B# N: @; w' g# C8 Y3 m! J1 w. j
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 t$ `7 i3 r) [9 N( m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( @4 g6 N+ d1 g/ ]) a& h
are spaces. % a0 @. s# V( y2 g& G S$ b# P6 A4 Q" F- t
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 3 d" n& _7 Y0 ?. U! \3 e; o- p! U( eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they , d4 z) u9 s. x# n `own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the M& E W' F$ M* I' |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different / b+ Y) L d `5 p fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ) \2 O! i% b. B, Hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 F* V0 |; }& N8 \2 f; I
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of : o, ` Z( ?' s) c! Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 u6 c/ {; S1 X9 M. j7 D% N8 ~
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 U% F* Z! f; y& U- `8 j- u7 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 beautiful0 K4 K" |( b- J7 b% v# U
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all% E' M2 a; g( \
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very o# P- j/ K+ C/ `9 }& }limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep$ s1 v' c# K+ R: T/ Y
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day3 y6 ^, k) v+ _& t9 U7 z8 k6 h
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of Y$ S7 c3 X4 n) L' e+ Sthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms - f1 T9 @" m/ [$ Phave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the% L) _0 k# d2 }2 I3 N5 f; H4 W) e
tourist area. ) w6 D, t8 b9 h1 ~) Z, T Y, E; @# T5 z+ v5 s' g! t' I, H; z# ~7 h3 m
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's: k; k; v" B& r* V
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).7 [, c# `" \5 ~! L
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 9 a$ X* n5 z& |2 p& veverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps " H* T \1 u2 ]- X, a/ _
less leader-religious. 9 G2 `" S) d! \8 T6 @0 G" x5 | ) r! ~+ Y$ E( n& S# ]About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba + v! l/ M! s$ u j m% ogovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 7 T# a( d4 u0 |3 G0 ?8 g( Eblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US# ~$ P$ X, e* P3 G8 ]# L+ p
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).2 u( T/ w$ z, ?; \
. ?2 A3 n6 R8 `. B7 @We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the/ C* N7 S2 m. \$ x
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not . a% ~: n4 I8 L( a* x: d! v2 Vthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 9 d, n' n# v. C2 ]convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for & h: o) q/ [: r/ j0 A/ |% gforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars2 }. o6 Y4 d' _ V. z
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ) S3 Z- @! C. y0 T2 Zprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the, n3 K* O6 k) I. j3 j+ D t
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. % v3 [+ e- w1 _2 u7 ?6 Z+ p8 E" n B& xAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local0 |# h: N6 O* A1 o% D7 X3 ~0 d2 ^0 H
or visitors.! c" C9 j2 h# k9 n! @
( Z; E; h6 ^, x
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
快乐的古巴之旅 2011-01-23 09:01:12 3 \3 J- I I# d) a4 T/ r
