We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very S/ K" D% N, h+ ]8 _' a0 D2 Kinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 4 x, M1 i( r: N3 h# f0 |- lwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.' C3 ~8 O# _4 e3 c+ \
! z, _" P" y, S$ w* nIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,8 n% l+ l1 w" Z# m6 d' W
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in& o1 U4 u5 ?; R5 s
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as ' L8 X0 R6 _+ n* x5 h% cpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 8 f: z7 C/ b% k( f. O) dshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep: `/ @% h: G/ g- X$ h8 o4 E. s. v( w
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the } u- k/ ~, Q/ A% T
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, / ^; |6 i6 O3 T& nwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.0 ?* m7 r6 x+ P0 W L8 W" E
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but5 ?' ^( d* G" G' v$ `: H/ Q
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not/ [& [2 r$ ?$ ^6 E3 j; l2 g8 A* ^
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ) c- g; S9 _ U0 a% C) Dflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through. r; S2 |& z/ I% r: x
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ' F2 O! E# A5 W' T" {. n# e" p2 \- W' y5 e
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 4 c) M+ j/ M7 v, Y4 `$ Blow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ( q; P2 m! N+ v8 I+ ~4 D8 b3 E(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top " _- q. O9 _8 Rof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the2 x& y( \3 l$ e0 ?- E( S
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from6 ~2 k7 ^) w6 m1 u; ?- Y
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes7 P S5 \4 X# R6 k' J
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with. y% |+ j6 k0 P* M, d; x. [
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 2 b4 w5 u3 z* I. S+ {' u T/ c( [ ; J% Q) ?/ G5 h* y, O1 i, `The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are + p! F7 X2 ?" n9 Ljust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made , w; D, [0 v2 G6 H1 n+ Vfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba- Z8 e0 S7 F; }9 e4 K& T$ R
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 2 ?$ L' ^0 N; K1 B! j' Ua staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China; Q( M" p5 Q: z7 u+ W
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( w" G( y& m0 B' H4 r$ d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 6 h4 M) i6 O8 Q4 y J) \4 Non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, / U. M* X; y+ S6 J4 a9 H. F"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give + ]& a7 x1 V B. \; janswers to our pointed questions. 0 Q/ E4 I8 K' P0 j E- `0 ]1 F ( k. Y" g0 h9 F8 c5 p' cThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, " z# u' A# ~7 S: ~! d1 T6 j+ w% e45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ) |0 ^5 B4 A6 ^* iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 S2 Q, `; a. \4 A' Y/ I- D c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 0 Z8 b! \4 x$ ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are / f, o% Y4 q8 `1 mmedical schools. 6 k1 q; ~( ?* C3 Y( @0 z' n' y. k- M ~
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ I6 P, m f. y q% }, L& X9 w
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ( e7 n1 T! l- l/ P0 Xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 3 [* t, o9 j# S! U% ^9 Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 1 m9 F- j- Y+ n, D; Iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 w& n# e5 s9 k7 C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 7 J: \7 T+ a& J0 }0 U1 qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" V9 t$ J# ^/ }6 [' y% D% N, y3 B
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 g! D+ L7 i9 n0 U {$ z1 ]
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some + w/ D! M5 B& dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 v: t' }" a/ }+ ^+ z& {* P
2 ~0 z: _6 ^# j$ [
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) n8 O8 p) o- Z8 {: ~
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' N& c. r) ~7 w9 q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 0 {( o3 l i( B& \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* Q) x1 k6 C0 C; \% b# \
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 0 L/ w# I. f! R9 R8 Zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; I) ~8 Z$ A0 y3 ?! ]& l1 t0 u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. & ]6 O( e, I5 m5 s) NDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When * D4 a) l8 J: K& U% k/ u& _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ; G) D! c) o' W/ A5 R" X7 n; ycharge the fee defined by the state.& x" b2 K4 T3 C$ l. _9 Z& m
1 @) ^$ a" o5 Y- S, p7 eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 7 E8 m r& ?7 w, n H9 M3 T. aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 8 K4 n5 p; C- c/ I, Q4 B: j# A2 J: Qof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big - H t$ ~1 c4 I# T$ Utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ) j: X, m/ R8 |7 F2 ~seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 [5 X$ m& ^. j$ X7 E8 q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on / j' V1 U! Z/ Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if 2 U1 a( ^7 t- I& `: gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people / k4 M# h9 [0 |8 d' Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch : R" i5 s2 S( N- D* \, Ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 W% n! Z6 _- G
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want Z1 Z5 i; V& ^& z, Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ i0 z- p+ t a
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 s* n% h! J- K- D# A$ O1 F) `
are spaces.; ^; c( Y5 \* Y1 e' q( b: q+ B
" _0 N% f) i v( _; w7 oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ( h% ?. b8 K& V. Dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they , |6 A$ a, F7 [6 Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 K: i& b. m4 }! I
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( f5 D$ S" }; V. X+ L1 T
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the % h6 c- O; x& m8 Xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 6 u2 k5 ]& I. P" J4 P$ p; Pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of 2 w% a3 K p$ _" I% G J, a0 Ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it : p2 ~" ~2 n+ V0 lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 9 ?6 \! f Z1 {7 [, C2 V! N 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# t4 {" t* E! q9 g/ H3 H6 M
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all & c5 J% H( U3 E6 b6 _+ Wthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 6 {9 F Y" i1 F, B* e# Slimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 5 k: l w H# L3 C: }* \. w$ ^0 X% Grecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day $ s* v3 o, s/ k0 D% W" W/ esupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 7 i7 s) K$ G, {4 d3 wthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms& y# x0 ~4 V3 U9 L! M
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the* E B, K9 F, a1 X+ |
tourist area.* T! ]+ V- f# C8 J7 O; v F2 m; i( F
4 T. W+ i' c0 i% N5 GOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's0 { W/ _5 R S8 v9 ~# M
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).) y- s8 a+ V8 D. D7 `2 `
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 6 U7 a8 g* {, p3 u8 leverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 4 @& b0 \5 F2 u5 S0 ?" W
less leader-religious. 6 D0 u5 j; F1 t# |! b$ v1 }' M7 m" ^7 C( v/ ]/ {* N7 Y- K; C
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba% G/ s& x% f6 G6 N
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big. |4 D6 c" I4 }3 H5 |! V; w% N; J# T
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US & b- z3 \" {# rembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ) s7 c) U. G+ C$ x; R0 w: F8 J% V. u
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the7 z \9 t8 @5 P6 f5 x& f, V6 C
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not& _2 W. E0 A; Q l$ c+ |- V8 p) Z
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 8 {& h) o; w. F# ^8 L0 [2 mconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for % K9 F! ?( Z* n( ^* K4 Qforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars" Q* e a6 w: [
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we , x1 `' J4 i; ^5 Sprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the- @1 t0 P: O* y2 {% q
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 4 f4 A: {. \! A+ r7 v# H8 ZAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local + i% y& g5 m. N1 Bor visitors./ v1 e) A6 o5 l0 d- x1 G
$ u# a/ z- T6 X-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
