We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very ( `5 O$ \1 a; v5 Linteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we " M% ?1 p! v3 G! O6 r+ ~; [wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible./ e0 g" }" Z: |3 w
% s0 C7 B( k; Y6 i# AIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, , ~3 J! S# o, B; L+ u30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in2 x: O4 }& ?# P9 x8 G7 h
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as, \" B6 c$ }+ I0 Y
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort * W' ?5 {" l: `show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ' @' t. z, g7 P6 T6 ~between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the 0 J9 u% d* Q+ K8 a1 D: k5 ylobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,3 T1 ]3 h5 a/ e' q9 R
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. - R4 P6 U4 v: I+ A& W5 \ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ' |- c% x# l2 l& p# D" Lnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / ^/ } j0 ?! m. yexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our $ b( k, B% _+ l2 ?( Dflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through / g+ K% v% ~5 C3 ca roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.( W) O+ T4 F: g+ ]4 H8 u5 F
9 W- ^$ M& S: R: m8 P5 u$ a
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,: h+ M) W8 j) {
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool # K8 B* k; p& @4 o8 r1 M( k, h( ^(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ; [$ P+ a% \: F3 |; g+ ~of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the2 f3 W) X$ u6 Z$ Q/ t
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 9 p$ h Q: G+ Z# {/ s49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 7 V0 k' W W, _- DCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with! K' G8 ?" Q) r% w' ~
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.' X) \* O5 f: J9 A- e- n
$ T! @0 x& k& L7 l& @The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are4 D" ]3 u) f# n0 T8 f% s
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ' u1 U" W# r1 x3 `for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba6 M% l; T2 R2 k
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having " C) A5 }% i: Ka staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China; J9 E$ [/ U( j6 f
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 ! L/ I4 G( G2 F0 ~, vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 r. j% h2 N% l
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# b e0 @) U/ k6 I% z, X; O4 j
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give % @' }, W3 a m! ^answers to our pointed questions.9 M; ~% n) D% o- P: S$ ^4 G
( ?$ X, g) C7 k1 m* V; _
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, . a, Q4 s6 _9 g4 f! U- X* c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! \7 a6 l. R, ?& b
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is + o6 J8 J" R* z) wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 d6 @; `6 l; E( ~7 B) T% a2 g: c
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 6 e/ |# A4 o) E( g! r& kmedical schools.2 b' ~, F. ^% l4 F
+ l+ x3 E a" ?Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ( N: q8 B, w+ v1 k7 agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants . ?3 v4 `, v. J# Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ! `- f* |8 e1 [$ ~% k! P0 Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 h6 f t# p1 K4 H- k- N
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- d$ ^8 p" R: S8 Y! h3 p2 r( s2 N" {" n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ [, d3 p% L* z/ Y) Y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ; B8 Q! j( L% ^. rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 v: j$ {" @' v: _6 b0 @4 ~, Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some ) c% x; l, \4 T; z# `& Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. " D M8 c+ l8 A! V( e* |7 I+ Z3 o+ b% b, V3 ` L
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no + L# N- Z+ ]5 Dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' N3 @8 M1 d0 v9 C% p# G5 O
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people ' D1 b+ x/ h: z; shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good& o, _: W% W* G4 Q4 \
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) _2 Z5 S7 x' m4 `6 ^/ w G L0 B
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high * |& y, C/ J7 f/ |' K# ]divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 y8 B9 V! G! K
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 8 t( @. P' j, T1 t/ J$ R' Ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 k& h) U5 P: \% [6 w U
charge the fee defined by the state.) r8 k$ I% \" i% {- R5 A
( ]& T, |1 o! Y# M& r& m
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) h- w6 u: B5 Q L' B! x
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type e& J- h, ?4 `% K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ) A; _* l# L" f7 D& z1 btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 0 A$ S' w& o* ?1 T, c6 E; w. S6 U) Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the . c) T o* R3 E+ T) V" Q3 cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" J; P6 D6 \3 @4 f1 q+ V6 g" \
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if [8 c+ Q" c* w$ b% k |9 F
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 7 Z2 P/ t- |$ s7 k" {8 Ptrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch / i F A8 M8 O+ G* U4 i8 b$ phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that 0 D/ m1 A' i! I2 }people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want + L2 q' Z4 q: a5 S+ Xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 s* X4 g$ l i# R
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there + D0 `; H% A1 Z: t+ s3 J8 N) ?are spaces.: s$ x! m$ T! B
8 }9 u( @( c" Z0 XThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi - B# V$ Y& y. Q9 bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 ^9 m0 ]; i1 I. O6 C# c; v; ^
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 o3 c: G9 J2 j1 _ I# q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ }( N! e- N: K% y' G; q$ T+ ~
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 4 Q4 b( b7 s% Q9 y- d5 Jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 Q( {) _- _5 s$ n# Y& W
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 y, x& M9 c6 X2 Q! S3 Y3 [" T: G
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! I$ H% @2 @/ K1 n% J; N! w* S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 5 N- f k% X$ r3 R; a' o, q2 x 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' ]7 I: l% [! }$ Z; j X. f
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all0 U4 t2 i9 D: A- w- p% Z. a
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ( G) L% i' N5 f6 S6 p: E5 y2 olimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep1 | `/ r/ l* f) g" V
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day `1 }3 ~8 s% |: `" G: c9 n6 R
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of , t- A x* i; F! d* B+ t, l" Ithem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms% T0 K2 m# r. {% i
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 1 Q- x: w" ?& [; }- Z \tourist area., Q: s; K( G k a" r4 O
* j d* Z$ q" Q) i5 c& UOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 1 ^" }: G$ O' f, q' _9 ipictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).1 `! u% l ~8 X$ v4 P4 b
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were* N# b. L. _, P+ n7 v" M7 n. M
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps , C% d8 m+ r, a3 Z: P( Q" V) d+ nless leader-religious. 8 M/ n( o2 c; t* m" x- n3 E* x0 d+ D" S+ Z/ E, h
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba& n4 B1 _5 j# e+ w
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big) K( _9 R! f |3 x
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US + v: K) s4 Q6 R0 m, s5 a$ wembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 8 A; ~9 L( J% K: ` O5 @( c% s; N- _( T7 `& O3 n
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the/ B' L- H* b5 } z- N# ~9 V
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not3 J% l+ T8 S- F' \- } ~ N
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1; s! ^. ?0 t1 }5 z4 R/ V1 S; Y$ V
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for5 K& r2 W; `$ n2 _4 l
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars, K. J, O% `& A2 f* C, z
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we8 b. Q/ W* Y% R; Y$ o; S
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the" h3 [ r7 j1 e; t
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. $ G" i% f$ O0 w, i. g# EAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 5 X6 X3 P& Z4 k v' zor visitors.& t( L6 o/ z3 l7 y
$ p$ Z- e u) |, d
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
