We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very4 y4 T/ p1 C/ m! W$ k' u
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we! w2 g: Q: F4 t! y' U8 s A
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.2 C# i: D7 [0 W8 h
% u$ t( |1 i0 k) }3 D" O. |
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, # X, R/ }" E/ L4 ^30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in0 v( u" P: @, T. z9 a+ t+ }
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as " L) W: A6 o1 u. kpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort& J7 a$ W: F. C1 }- |" _2 f" u
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep [) p/ B: l1 P' R4 X U. |* d+ ]between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the6 o b3 k) k6 R8 Z- p
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ( D* a. F0 E/ k9 \7 owith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.- f% R2 V% D: r) {
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but9 q$ `6 o W6 \# `# X
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not( Z6 B7 R! [* @) S
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 6 S# }( Q d/ }' R9 c. w3 `9 fflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 2 @9 _! g' s$ _+ Oa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. 4 }0 B' e1 f+ O+ ]$ e2 }+ i7 e) K$ e( x# U
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,( Y n* j, o- z; X5 V# j
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ) O$ a, J' H1 I' S. U(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top q+ N! d9 W. x" |- T9 j
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 7 Z; J3 `$ I) u4 c' g/ nstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 1 P' T+ v7 }) [' g/ L49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 0 s3 w7 c; [0 Q* bCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with( G# H$ ^; ]/ ], Y
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 9 Y/ j4 F: D, j7 d3 S( u: l0 @4 w4 ^ # o" z: Q$ s( V! \# aThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ; W4 @% i, g9 q) k- W0 Ujust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made2 k: @7 ]( z; d$ P. W3 U
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba" c' X; L5 X, t x% R
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having+ D$ `7 ~' T2 x$ O: X7 N
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China . `+ I0 `6 b+ j# h/ U: Y& K1 _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( F! K E: x1 I, B9 U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- N+ g3 B: V! O0 y: Y& F S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ( @3 E# v5 {7 }/ A) s: c"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give ' k. V" s, a( `answers to our pointed questions. 4 \7 H* R# L6 r$ ]4 `) L! \. r& E( J7 \1 j, c" E
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, 5 v) H: y b; O# W45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) O$ ~% v, n8 U& Z6 ?) e
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& V6 w! r2 x4 ^" m1 f6 V4 j1 g' V
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' y; u, H8 v* M: {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 2 M V6 ?9 G9 W+ zmedical schools. 5 c- g' Q: l, ]" Q t8 K 0 b- _: f i7 I) s* x" d5 AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 8 m: L5 f2 [0 r; `1 |' \4 i5 ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 9 h* [- P# K2 F/ X T$ G+ eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years * C. I- {! [7 }' G5 }, Sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ `& Q# ?: ^, Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# |) m$ \ F( |) j( p" c- w
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 z* M9 d' y0 q1 A
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 3 D. w) P, q1 E) I- L$ d" `' Vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 @, X b; n) h, u3 J. f* `- N
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some , `' Z* `: A( S3 d' `9 H7 Wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. % L, E: w1 }) X( o: w) F ( q; M% p- L2 t3 ?, D- g; O+ aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no , d* _6 H- `# i2 t9 Q) @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ) G! i# Y$ S5 F- i6 o! psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people & d7 H9 r# o8 ~; |4 m: ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ( d' ~6 v1 ?/ O5 y+ W! t; U; Q7 sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- x _9 q; \" H" H! _. R
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" {7 z, d6 e6 v& m8 _
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 5 e# y9 f6 S( e1 i( ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 3 n5 u5 U$ d4 t6 R2 f8 ^a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( y( I. P+ e3 @ ?+ W, h
charge the fee defined by the state. - T5 r, z" c5 T& b6 T1 M+ P6 B/ w. v' U4 [, H# T' W
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get % b- [& O6 j( R3 T1 Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type % `" V- x& M! Z0 M, j! Zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# E, a5 \: q$ {4 I! G+ @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) d. p2 j2 L% i# p
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 1 k$ ]6 E+ f: k5 c: A9 kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on . t! p2 I, A6 K wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- Q. ?* I* m$ E9 \& r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# m( p$ i9 w4 y# e
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! ^& F0 d; D' E2 _* H0 M0 s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that * H0 [% P4 D( }' apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" I9 [, X+ R2 t8 i
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, P% \ L" c/ l/ Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 L6 b W; t% F: k* l' a
are spaces.8 u; V6 Z% O5 Q9 B+ h, J# p
5 G& K, G# K; ^0 f' }5 O @
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ' b ^3 x) u! L7 d6 w7 c f4 qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! k* ~ D8 K" H8 i
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 S8 l2 r2 N% R- G. J/ t; i) ]5 X2 I# Y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 i$ z5 D. k3 R, t" {0 g
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ; N/ p+ o9 L% P" k" _# Cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: r5 s& N% G9 u0 I4 y2 q1 A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 o- g8 o0 D8 y$ n9 T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ! Q. c: n# V/ Xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 3 W( X+ }; c. g7 K5 \ 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 V4 {9 V3 z( x) h: G4 Z
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all! k9 Y) \$ q, _' B; G: ^2 q
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ( ~( ~% E% w- Q8 ^4 }% alimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep & q r g3 s2 nrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day: f" x: ?7 \( D {' G0 R5 E9 u
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of2 p2 A& k* Z. U4 @8 b
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms; m! I' V7 T2 | Q& t9 S
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ ~5 {$ q# R% t& ~' U% j$ U6 j' y
tourist area.1 u3 z9 {7 L9 U' D# K. ~3 p
4 X/ v; U6 @- W+ D& q. x/ ~
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ! ~3 P; z [& V) O" f! F2 E6 n7 qpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).! A$ v1 H6 t$ Q) d
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were $ w6 O1 m8 W9 A3 Y9 u: _everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps # c& @5 q9 T1 { a: b7 T
less leader-religious. i' P K: d* `/ U
* G5 a1 I/ ? K" j2 @! ~- V0 lAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba& _) f8 M8 L9 H; r1 w7 h, G! E
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ) M' s8 U( i5 m( R, A0 c+ X) @black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US. x# R6 \+ j6 G' a6 m/ c
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). # f- V$ N x) v( j" d $ ? |8 _* [% aWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the1 \* @, b& [* E3 O* E9 I! u
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not3 d& h; V, _2 `( C: ~7 C* a# k
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 5 Z4 {9 `2 g' h# ^( s, W5 A1 Rconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for* E7 | s9 O9 f/ }
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars - S% Q3 d0 v9 e( o9 d(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we4 w& @$ P: f, }- t, ^' o# `
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the# U) l7 l+ O5 G
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. + a+ G6 l; q1 r5 b. M( }And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local6 M3 z2 A( f- m9 j3 z/ a
or visitors.+ N# x/ q n: k% p+ l8 `
- W+ \* q/ b) r& ?1 j
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
