We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very( ^3 }% o3 h8 x4 |
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 0 v- k# h- e4 m# E: Nwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.1 v7 a) U/ `9 {/ |
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ! D. a3 e4 g) w. B30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 1 @8 Z8 j+ o/ \4 A3 q8 Ga very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as # f' n5 s6 y3 k. u1 t4 g' opossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ; g7 ~1 m: y* l7 g4 R* Jshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 2 |7 |& h6 J6 r x1 A' ]between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ( |0 C1 _. e& v' ?2 [! g; p4 clobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,! ?7 o+ `; w: A0 e
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.8 X4 F6 x. S0 y
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but( B1 z' j2 h$ v1 l) J8 z! E' E
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 4 b6 l* P4 x9 S/ Z. Uexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our % z/ P. z2 E5 Dflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through2 } Z6 N3 r$ r* G" D/ b f% W
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ; h9 T$ S7 o) B ; s1 Q3 j/ `; D4 _" I1 i$ qThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, & h9 I m1 `+ j, w2 j. Q* i, s' Y9 blow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool! O8 p& l; p+ ^1 r. B
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top - H* ?2 B+ {; E4 aof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the m, H' N; B% C; P' O# M5 R0 Q
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from# a6 m+ f( k4 [) R0 h: m
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 9 H# Y1 ~) K4 H& |: hCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with5 a8 l9 P0 E X) ~/ _( t
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. ' T4 d& i. y8 c" o! y( N+ e 1 T- p* D# ]* c1 Q1 b8 zThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are ' i$ F7 V) v L0 h) T! {just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ; p! _6 _0 Z- D7 n2 R4 efor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 4 h" K7 D9 Y3 O. v1 ^2 Ttourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having # `. l7 w, x6 N' g& b8 ]a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China- e2 D& ~+ ~' {3 k. `& Z$ S- 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 * H% o# N3 ~) _% L& c: j0 E1 Lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went + B: Y1 V1 e2 I# H% }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 6 b. X+ F4 Q& u# l6 P1 x"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give / h1 m @3 q+ j% h' }6 S& }# ]) Sanswers to our pointed questions. ) {6 `6 I, \; _$ W+ A9 D* C" \ ) Q2 E$ {+ S( A S4 @: _7 cThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 D3 n7 B# \2 ]) x0 ~* O% z5 \
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand & T3 s% w& e5 j2 z0 E/ q( Pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is & p n. N) _1 ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams / w: m8 j7 M: @to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( e! l; D: P: `: I/ u
medical schools.( E" D' V/ i& c% k( T7 q! ]
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 o. P6 ~# ]% U! a J* C
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants 6 z% _+ z7 P G( u3 j U& t% K' y- Mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 6 ` p* e& ]: A, r" @assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 ~% a9 C& t: D
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ) S8 P4 P @" O9 O! s m- lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There , V5 ^6 F; W6 k' Kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( \3 G$ ^2 K; | z U* Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: v( f8 f6 q) ]3 J
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 ?/ p+ P1 x3 C+ r# [
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( d8 o) }' w( V J' p* T
& A! H, @( m/ X% nThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ; u3 N$ o/ [. o% I# Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 2 c8 h# D0 a3 J3 ]) ~supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, V& a4 L& S$ D" ]7 M! v
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good . h; A9 x+ ?5 ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby * F( W$ o+ h7 m Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high % R1 |. {% v& m" l4 Ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. / K5 k- K9 R$ h: g3 R2 g& i9 ODivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' m3 a* d$ |3 C$ @+ g8 q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 8 x* Y' ~0 Z: a7 ~charge the fee defined by the state. & d7 G) i: J' |( l- g, S1 J, @5 P; X2 E4 e' m- D4 e. h( K4 g
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# W& N* S* N. z/ h2 p! O" |
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% j& m5 C! d; K" E% N
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 M* U1 V e% S9 m# B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ' a5 m! Z1 n0 R) U2 r+ W5 hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 4 \0 R6 |9 K J; vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ! M0 ^/ T4 { ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 D1 _! @* j& R: N
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 5 D' {& d/ Y$ a k- Htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch + M8 X) J- E' f& n1 U) R, phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ( g; h$ L1 }! t* o1 V9 h+ zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) ?- f4 ]# U1 o! T1 `" \
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ {. l& a9 G3 q/ P0 t. t) l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there ( @- E L+ }0 H7 I7 g A6 \+ xare spaces. # k8 J. @- r! n2 L3 W) [# N- Z6 a; @$ E1 g) z+ \6 D
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi + p4 q$ ^9 g: p. _0 I b; Kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( F+ ^- ` ~9 y7 J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 2 }0 S* Z+ ?5 C! [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 m! M2 ~! M" d! e( h a
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the " F6 @5 w3 ~. ]7 ? g& B0 w6 p% ^5 L! Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ h& {) l( @) D/ n1 I6 a; k4 Z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of / G! D% K4 q# r! R1 {4 J# V6 }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! J! u: K3 X. k5 _! U. V$ F3 C
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ u' F9 f2 R' Y. t1 K9 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" t2 ^3 d& }4 I1 ~2 W+ a) Y
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all0 w0 a. p. G' e0 y8 u7 h
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very ; w' @) @: h) s8 i& Climited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep # v9 a1 l2 h: w, W7 q! rrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day . ~3 J2 J* S' b9 W' ]: T$ h. [) jsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 7 v$ a) g9 V+ ^+ vthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms) O* M0 J+ t J) O! s2 Y+ i
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the $ V+ e6 ~* P2 ?9 ~# N( Q% s9 otourist area.. t8 a# [3 V- T2 j0 z" \* X
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's; K4 ~$ J; B1 I8 J
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 8 k C$ d* I! v TCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 5 u/ L( E3 k7 `. K8 o0 Y' ~% Y. z xeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - ^! R: ~$ u# Uless leader-religious.' `$ p9 h& Z9 u4 U9 z t* e+ M
" O( |0 |$ u" N x. T& _. `
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba / a3 W% Q$ M8 o9 T" U$ u6 zgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big ; ?4 F9 N0 X7 N0 e n) v7 Iblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US' l0 {8 s$ I2 ^- k
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 4 f" S9 s( ~+ U" b: |; n4 C! o5 \. `" j, J+ G; F
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the / l+ F) e: h/ j- `parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not / O* U0 M: Q: b. Jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $19 X/ \ Y q- j4 v/ T @
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for ! g1 P9 T* i( kforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars1 |8 k; b7 E* e/ H
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we * ?# M; ^! i2 Z( k' }& A8 `/ oprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the! {7 e+ m1 I2 n9 c' o- Z
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. : d0 h8 C. M! M& W6 C5 A z- pAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local A7 J# o5 s6 F- Y6 C( y, ~6 s' V9 [/ oor visitors. , D. R3 V4 M5 u& E3 i( H& c: g- X( W0 r# G j: [1 u' \
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
