We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very9 j# O# O. t! l( d$ P* S
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 3 }2 [* [! q( r/ x9 _6 f: S) zwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. - L+ D& H' x" @$ J6 t$ T: q% N, O8 S$ Z$ A1 T4 e# l. |7 A( i$ `
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,# I2 H( I. n; }% w
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in T- V" Y7 Z& f* b0 [2 |% h
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as( i' T/ e# }0 T/ a$ i
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort % \& o; S5 |8 v- j: u! pshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep& w* x: j8 f2 v7 Q) c2 o% Z. F
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the. a/ a6 T0 z$ ~2 ~: `0 a8 r, [- Q n
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,1 o( h* L4 Z6 i+ M
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.3 u9 }* a' _8 M/ A/ @5 I
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but! _* R3 E1 C2 X
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not % O0 D2 d; F4 N1 z' W' mexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 7 x c- k; G; q& V" l- `9 kflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through / S% ] G* m" M" K2 l% _a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.1 E& r$ X6 D! F3 T$ h2 I* K
1 r' _, O: J$ W) @1 D
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, - I8 W+ n V2 c/ \* D6 dlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 6 a8 f6 @! f: i% d- [% Z, K(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 3 V4 g( J; u$ g/ f+ n1 P tof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 0 y: X& ` D; N3 k" sstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from+ k3 r1 w6 `0 H! I
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes$ q) H% e1 |0 d1 ?. c- ~( J5 V
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with ; w3 w7 g! t- a$ Xfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.9 t1 t: o: x/ e6 w1 O p% g5 R: H
5 O3 z" s, i6 C7 GThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are. E7 E4 b$ ]8 C0 [
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ) j! t7 c' J" F" N" cfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba : ^5 @ r! l+ X5 O6 W. Mtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having % }8 [3 `8 Y! D- X/ ya staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China2 r- }7 X" m* E7 S! V
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 * e- }: H' h4 d- N8 L# _' cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* r; ^9 Q. V- h" L& K/ q, G3 ^! S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 o) B. P6 g6 a7 C
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 R7 q& F" h$ Z; X& a/ q
answers to our pointed questions. + E7 w3 L+ J6 C0 D 8 W& L) ?6 q7 Q- HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, n, K' b" n3 h0 c
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 Z2 b# |, |9 B4 e) I2 D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 }! b2 w& _1 B0 s
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams % M( h* _- r7 k/ v% z) J' _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are # {3 }! H* P4 G& Jmedical schools. 4 A3 m4 C# }" I. k4 r( ^; S ' b& U: ?: n b) fEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the : e& r/ C: Q" J: v/ Cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants # \' k% y& ]+ q Yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years , f% Y) @* Z9 O; p* z# D8 d) I6 [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 1 p, l+ l. T5 J1 L& P3 }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 [3 A r5 ^2 X( {
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) M& j- i4 K' j$ T( S" P, _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and . P. c q7 ~/ n/ z( c0 omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: ?$ q6 O' u/ \; u& {. N0 }
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 O$ G* ~" i3 u% z4 m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 j0 N2 m4 \4 R; ^% K# |- _2 o
9 b, v1 C! R1 p' e3 L- W
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, R' z) Y- W$ G9 N5 l K6 F
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and / O9 w8 s; y: ^/ f1 R% tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ p+ }5 U0 Y8 T
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good , i3 y0 A0 {' m2 f/ _% ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 H+ m' F# ]' H% ~9 q$ Q# {3 o
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 0 s- o+ L2 z3 j$ J4 ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) N, @& A8 n1 W* e! I) f
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ! j9 F6 h8 _! t; Q* T% y6 ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only - |6 D& y( L; Q' @( K& wcharge the fee defined by the state. ; i( @( [, W; {) b& l# K7 y! k! S( s
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ) P9 g# s' T* F+ t" T; jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 9 Y4 K' ~2 v$ h3 ~% K7 a) w3 fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 A9 g8 e* I6 B1 P% t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 0 j X$ f! o% E' Lseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ) D; Y6 H3 y# |4 }; b7 X$ cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ' l+ R) ~* T% K; }+ ?7 B6 jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" f4 s2 w* I; @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ \% g- n3 I: }9 R; W. D
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch % ?, Z5 b& q0 B- C1 Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 {+ S* V/ H5 z2 [7 Y% ], U
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want # W4 ^: m1 z0 C( sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 u# S1 A% V* O/ I( B
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 L5 }; }/ s( {4 L2 o; b
are spaces. i# G" i8 i2 f' Y% O& X2 j- D
- g9 s* ?% U4 W/ {( LThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi $ L8 g- u7 u) T9 \0 F" p5 d) j/ |2 xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 @/ w2 T5 Q9 C& U# V* [
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ y5 H8 V' e4 ?7 X# j/ W' i; B
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different : A: C3 x' G/ k- a+ V3 Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 Q _) } Z# R' p! z5 J+ I" H
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few : c. Q; q4 w8 y [$ B9 u [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of # U( t& h. C) Mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ |8 ?% G% y5 R9 k$ \1 Q1 V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 9 X4 Z4 y8 [4 I0 r& c 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, M' M. M. O+ v m! s7 m4 V
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all , o, H% \. X; n$ i$ p( Tthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very + A/ }, R0 ]* C! flimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep , v" ^, c( J3 G, n4 b8 _9 zrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 9 m& v8 k. V; W7 T2 k! Fsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 4 b% t. m0 t9 K3 v5 j6 x$ }them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 8 w3 v+ N, Y; Ghave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the & |# F: g. W1 S( s" Utourist area. % K/ U c9 m7 Q; v % `( f- T, @( b3 g, E2 dOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's & v) N7 q8 _. V+ [0 jpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 2 y! I L" U" y. Q& S6 q: C- RCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were % J7 m: s% r$ c. e, H5 meverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ( C( T% F+ I& `0 H# kless leader-religious.* c2 r3 c% s: e# p1 E" S$ {
$ _2 K4 V7 Z% ~& p+ b0 p- N6 DAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba A/ C* u3 D0 h8 ~" f7 \- B9 Kgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big - o+ [& d; I+ s% Wblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US; ^. ^( f7 g9 s% }8 _
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).9 L( `2 L, K4 W9 v
: c% Q: |4 s% u! i/ T/ C
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the* l6 n$ I0 z, Z
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ; ?3 Z6 i$ h4 K, e# u/ N1 `the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ( ^5 _# L8 q& ]convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 6 {6 Q- [0 [! b+ {1 j" T4 q8 Rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 6 h- [9 G5 g" H$ q(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we9 {3 x0 D* v3 \' g5 Q. v4 V0 j- ~
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the0 ^ R1 i j- I/ }! I& Y
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. . t4 I* V. P' x, CAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local: z$ }* ^8 Z8 P" {! @/ W
or visitors. $ T3 i; {1 q4 k: A1 q/ v( n; E0 x0 q5 M0 y. g
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
