We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very$ J/ T7 c9 R1 s& e4 [+ g
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we. V- o. l8 Y& y) L+ Z' |! e
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 0 I( |) A( j. _" u9 B 8 Q% E: s" L. k4 C+ Z" ? Y" r3 q6 oIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, & W8 ]/ X0 w3 N Y3 y, o- }4 d+ o30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 4 i9 x5 N, _3 za very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ! }8 j% Z m9 \" k/ u9 Rpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort } Y$ Z+ }7 g. k" zshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ) [3 a1 i8 Y, w4 Zbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ) F4 E# @+ u' f& G/ j; N3 Nlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, . o0 C5 r7 e5 ]) J J# a6 {/ a4 jwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.0 N+ ^/ R8 r q/ X3 L' y
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but' n- p7 F6 V' u4 P$ j* n \
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not$ c$ L/ c: D1 v
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our! X6 m- |" l$ p
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through$ I4 ^7 E. r+ A3 y
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. : ]1 Q* P% k7 p: r4 ?0 V: ~ & U* _. B* u3 @% H2 XThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,( Z2 V- h: q3 D. d5 H l9 L: @: k8 z
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool! q( L, V# u0 y7 [, @, z9 e. c, n
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 8 W9 D: k/ ]$ gof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the / I) ?2 c. j$ S/ ^) x7 w: \: G4 ~stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from$ g0 Y" z( J% A6 V& g4 g5 _) G
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes/ o6 k% i$ H. q/ f5 K6 m9 v1 r& B
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 9 U3 ]# K3 H4 G1 o) Yfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. # @# r$ i# w* p' n5 u3 F6 z3 ]% f
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ; l! }6 S F6 a2 u% R$ ojust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made# J }: E1 g" o* L& M; ^
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba & n5 L# o5 S: p5 F* w# Y& ktourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having0 y! w3 s1 u7 z
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ( x0 ~1 X0 h0 Qdaily 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 , A* |6 u' ]5 i1 h! r6 V8 Xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ) O) u# [& F7 D" B) p0 C3 Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! Q- W+ N n$ v H0 X% M! ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give + x9 S9 B, g1 Y' A& q: kanswers to our pointed questions. @1 l; D2 K4 U2 {& Z 8 W& f5 s! A1 d: ~ U1 \1 _The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, " Y' f. h! r/ X45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 9 z5 v% p1 a! ]2 d+ xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 8 m- |" _3 X+ K% D% bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams , f4 w7 Y$ i+ r; _- i2 x ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 9 { q' F' K7 K- f: ]/ umedical schools. s+ m7 ?( R, h/ M" l9 R
' I' X* r! D+ {3 d3 ? k s3 sEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 \% n7 G1 j" r! O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 7 M2 x, z: ?: Z0 F" `/ ~9 K! yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; o' g Q6 i0 u. m) s
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 o* w/ ?- Y+ c% P3 V5 ~7 H
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 2 P1 d6 ~! z/ Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 1 c3 X( ?1 _( Q% E' pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 4 \8 C: Z7 D. V8 \; Wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 K* f1 o7 y/ o9 \& Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 }* i1 |6 I3 j4 n: P; O( q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 2 O0 y6 i, D5 z2 s$ |3 {6 z+ H 1 F% S: c7 X. t2 [7 u7 VThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no / g2 Z3 d: j. ~# b1 f$ Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and & T" t5 @4 _9 Z5 Isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people - n) T1 r: n' qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good a" y1 ^3 d+ w! u1 K
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! H2 F+ v, o8 [5 R% m3 T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high " J* U1 s# F* W8 I& a+ {* [2 D% adivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. % F: c# H; f3 d6 f3 @) NDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& z u6 f) @ n# c, ~, `
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only - h8 d: L( m: Y# i) C7 D3 N9 ycharge the fee defined by the state.: Q1 L) Z+ E$ f, k( |
6 l' Z5 K: q' d$ {3 {8 Y" U
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get & z( |7 q) L& d: F6 D- I$ aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 6 Q# d- E% Q( F _6 k8 G) Tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big # @; S+ t- F4 i; V6 p2 j$ z5 Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 8 \ a. j8 V6 sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the / S& o6 |$ g4 |: V+ G# iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ; w0 b' b7 ^# C2 v6 l, T0 D: I8 C2 tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ) t; _1 k6 o- C+ ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 6 M, A! r( j% itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 E4 s) Z2 E- O1 U7 N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 9 }, m# T4 Q+ b; E! c/ kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 B8 a/ S/ ^- B2 `% y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or * U2 w4 z: K* a& K5 P; c8 V( fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there # C$ t) C5 T) \4 Z& Care spaces. * M7 r0 L; o! [. }/ X7 f" z" U% H: [9 D, X; A+ g! N% l; J/ p
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 f) ~; A; Q c. y6 f2 ~( P n
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 ]3 u& j+ m' C) z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 c9 V, z# P9 g+ z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 4 @+ f& z1 r& Z) { vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 z6 v' S3 f3 I( [* K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few + o( ~# ~2 R2 N( v% {: @nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ P0 v; Y8 R3 Q* m) V* x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 ~! k& R6 Q/ v9 K, f: o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ! [8 @6 U2 u" e/ Z y1 R# [$ | 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/ K4 t, o! v: U4 b5 Q: N4 r! c
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all& S' V5 x9 W/ N* P: Y
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very- Y& ?7 I7 b( I* @
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep6 n8 {# P: f5 Z. w/ ~2 t
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day' u- J0 u1 V# U$ f) Y9 r0 q7 W
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ; R- i# b# U& {; r2 Ithem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms# y2 n/ W& z1 {1 p
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the3 z' [: U4 l) t# {3 c) H
tourist area. # w4 z; F. j1 o5 N- U/ c ! @: r2 E9 H+ ?& B; G! F, UOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 O. L9 ]7 q* }; R+ C, e; b
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).) | d& |; P; {% d* M0 o% X
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were * z% y' A4 s7 ~* qeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - ?, a$ v# ]6 |* |+ q$ u
less leader-religious. ' X" o) I2 ]0 ^# l+ V 8 u7 o! `$ u+ [ S3 \9 C( |4 }: nAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba / ]- e, f0 J$ Z( C6 ^* @1 zgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big & t! H/ U4 l m% }$ fblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ( P( O! D7 g' G& U" eembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).! A5 M5 r% W9 A) M
* Y( T2 C( O3 Z/ q3 }6 `4 n
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 9 R0 |; c: L2 w) }& |5 [parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not7 i% ]8 k7 m$ U7 O- [) z* A1 C
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 8 |) u3 E. _% E# xconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 5 y& Q- }1 \2 G: W: F/ w9 ?foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 1 w" D% |4 q$ k* [3 k! \1 \(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we# S" @8 h+ N4 y9 G6 y* e
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the1 M. _) S+ b) O; q9 C
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.! K/ O# C8 Y) n" n/ [+ E/ N5 _
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local' v# Q. Z& K& C. ^8 C
or visitors. 0 e# C, E# J9 a+ H5 A# R6 _ 3 E% C) e+ j' Q$ i$ {' ~-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
