We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very$ m! a& F# g t8 }$ F# _7 Y$ q
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 4 q+ o4 W& ?6 W, h* Y, y3 o+ ]wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 3 o$ F, H+ \' O, m* e& x v5 Q0 \6 k# H; }. i
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, * N- h+ s8 z; C5 I6 D30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in8 K2 N2 _% r" [0 H2 K8 z
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as % j# _! O$ S4 X" spossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort) {8 K. l$ o* Q
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 6 ~! c' M4 N% G3 vbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the1 \9 c2 ~" l& W
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, % U) u* R1 Y0 S9 z3 ^: ywith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. % g. ? C+ Y% X: i% i; }3 ~ People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but8 p5 b" g- w) p" h1 f
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not / Y3 b( a$ h. ?* k0 U/ J4 L6 o9 k. Uexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our E. w0 @" [2 Y0 T
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 0 v( l* e* T" `) r% q1 j5 L) b3 _a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.8 Q+ t0 X0 B3 t: g( J8 |6 d2 R
_6 I" O9 ~; I" v) _3 g, jThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,5 o+ r; L0 Y- [6 y9 S8 e
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool2 }0 }7 S6 C) W5 f" T7 |. k9 ]6 N
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top $ Q b+ i2 F D! w1 n- o: z5 Jof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the5 b' j x- {$ z6 M1 B5 M& Y+ F
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from" x1 U# I% y d; o5 S
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes6 P% _. q+ j5 C9 s8 }# ~% n) i6 _2 k
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with; W2 T/ G* P' V: J
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.) v; W( V7 P1 T8 T; D/ l
0 ?7 b% O: {, e6 h: {
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are5 j% y1 l. Y2 F4 X# s+ r
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made/ O- I& w- ^ t4 X. o+ v T! L
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 3 j* o s" D9 _4 ltourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 4 T" E" s0 v# z3 a1 ^: k c' x( l8 ^a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China( i4 E, }" ~* u) B' v& D+ _
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, living3 k3 W. y! n7 i1 b8 h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ( u9 P; \/ C' s) v' j* o* Won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," r5 ]2 V4 R6 |& `$ d6 W/ u$ l* P
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give 5 p2 V5 F+ n5 `answers to our pointed questions. 2 G& u! |2 Y6 x) t1 ` : W& B+ u4 R9 D/ g: oThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, ' d3 ^) P$ p1 v7 `5 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 \0 b0 _0 S' s1 ?: s. ^ D+ w
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 6 [' X' ?' M. r8 \* P1 ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ; ^/ l2 l# v4 k6 Vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are ' ]" w! B1 H+ j. d/ \. d3 emedical schools. 7 B! n- i- D# l" d! ` e! C+ D' T, I; A d5 @
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ) h; `, d' K- O. h+ G0 \4 r' t& Ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants [- ?+ K5 f8 F. b; jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ! R5 d5 Q: g/ q0 p6 |/ }assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 z+ l0 w- [ O) Y6 f
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 3 f3 y6 G* A3 J) [( R( |over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There / T8 ]" J) i1 Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and - E9 E) S% n* V W& I9 Q/ _( Imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk & ?" P) c/ ]7 v Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some 4 W( Q7 Y# G: @" \. Vsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- k/ A1 j: U6 l( |9 i, U" B
7 c; U3 R- s& ^. n8 D$ B d. C! t; ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no+ }3 g& m! r. V, D! V1 R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ N% X* v' a0 _1 B
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& ~) \2 h8 ^1 r5 Z) n5 U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good / r% i- @+ x3 Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ( d# q' A5 y& x: K' ]- z, s% Wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 t% O3 I$ E' n: D- e7 Q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ i6 W; D. n* D5 ?
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& U5 r" X& L9 U: L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 g2 F0 m9 Z, e7 X1 |0 r. A x* v
charge the fee defined by the state. / F1 J+ Q3 E3 F9 r8 u 5 z& ^1 R/ Z+ x" q" l# gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ H; X4 T- q+ e2 K# h
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 v( I ]; H2 f" l. z! x e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big + z. }2 H' _7 j1 }. Q- k3 \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel * M# @& \4 K+ |" Z6 Xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the 3 m E5 g C* i; ^working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on " L# A! y, K' d+ `0 Xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% m/ e7 }8 X w) ~8 w
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ; r" G, X/ W" ^5 o6 `0 W* h: Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch # J; P( g9 a& Nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that # j: t" d ]# Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want - z( X! a+ E+ c* L! mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or % C, w1 t% `$ S' z4 zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 1 O: w% ^: j" x. b2 A1 i6 W" aare spaces. ! \/ k" J0 n. r* x! _ E& c" H; q# e
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 9 Z8 D) v6 }, L$ z4 d. Zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) I+ D3 L5 i; y0 K: \4 x" J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& q5 R7 O8 C8 _* f/ u$ @
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 7 r# S) j9 B' A3 e2 ~parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 @* D" a+ B+ p/ o8 K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 1 K7 x3 T2 x+ S7 xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- m! }' O, Z4 D+ L6 m7 D4 {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 V$ P0 E: }* v! S8 E3 b/ s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. # b6 e4 M1 f1 z 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 , ]- w' V0 o3 _, m0 N0 s) e, ]7 zspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all - d- c' v0 f/ O8 J$ x2 fthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very( N1 S1 z; |" O ]- c0 K n
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep ( X7 e6 b, k; {' `& M; _recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 8 V' h( g% ~8 h, [3 n& p- h0 esupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 6 @. V1 R) b5 A; o) W/ p& T p+ othem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms0 a: ~0 |! B' z, L/ V
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the 0 B8 T' [9 b( J. wtourist area. 7 [7 q) R/ x3 L* u6 m. j5 U5 J& h" ~0 Y
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's $ m: N9 }# ]* \: {1 lpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara).# K9 G& V9 z4 Y- c
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were : ~6 d% E. F/ f% ?! i+ B: O' y, xeverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 8 i( m. |: P7 c$ ~. _6 Pless leader-religious. ' W5 w9 ?' N- L" E4 Q, O9 e& g& S1 a& b8 B- m
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ! S: y; P' N; z' v' E. ^ Y+ pgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big6 \. ^5 \6 `6 F; d
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US ! M( m4 e8 i( ?+ l$ Pembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).2 {" T$ `' G2 l" q8 C
, W3 `. P6 @: N g: C, U* t' F8 m
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the+ g! c" H2 g% |& u) e
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not * {* t3 a" A! h$ k- [; O+ X$ cthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ! w9 {2 {; Q- p0 M' n, O! }convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 8 d9 Y/ m5 t+ c: ^ A9 _% V4 qforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars A& g+ f# k8 g2 V. Q9 O9 g(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we , K/ K) p1 N- T. |/ p5 oprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ; p) }' l: i0 f! I Z# lreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. + p" B4 t M x, J/ hAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local3 |5 ]* @% ^0 a0 p; n1 X V1 g
or visitors. 8 X- p1 V+ t5 x( M' i$ \4 p# {( B. l
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
