We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very) _+ o8 {2 {7 c& B1 ^7 z y3 V
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ! O* ^) X ]8 m0 j. r4 L) V, Uwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 3 C' k5 d( T+ ]) J: b" l9 h) p 6 h7 J# i6 D; J+ T- U- E) \It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,+ o2 o% F4 p, O. \2 ~* f) H
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in , C" K( z; t5 j8 B0 d# m A/ Sa very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as . @. x" P: V: c7 I! e4 d- Ypossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort' q) O3 W3 M7 e5 T/ I" ~
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep - |$ x2 ?' Z) W% T2 a1 m, Gbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the7 r( |0 g9 c( z- Q% ^
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, $ p- ]9 Z) @) m6 B0 v% y2 Iwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ' J7 p {4 }% w9 y- g People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but $ l6 G) \+ P9 }8 c5 Nnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not$ t8 S% p7 U3 m, ]& F7 ?' G# C
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our& o0 V0 g* s+ C4 x( T0 E* z- X
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through$ @8 t3 P( h2 s; L
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. L3 O; _1 h, k# [0 T a2 K, i9 `* a, PThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 9 o4 c: P3 [& Elow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool C$ d N/ @+ z
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top0 a1 R+ ^; e* z5 N% u0 G
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the: ?9 n4 w! d# K9 K( @+ T: q2 E
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from - ]1 ?. l' u! Q$ I( k$ I5 t49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes . @$ W5 h4 U) h4 ^9 `+ ?Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, r5 r& D& L' h& O
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.7 |6 A. X) y" P
! |1 A8 {$ B, Z9 v2 i' bThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 7 Q: K: l, N/ I2 A- Sjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made : {1 J; H. N6 p# y+ Afor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba % T1 M& K, b3 J% H& I# Ztourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having" u+ `' w, D7 K. j
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China! N, j# O' a k
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 9 Q9 n! W, J5 n7 [/ Q$ jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 q' D5 O! D$ G4 w, f
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, - S+ H/ r& c( G/ X( Z. B" z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! H3 h3 i6 G4 [& D4 M# f
answers to our pointed questions.# {. m6 Q3 H: e; [# ?' J1 h2 [
$ E2 O( J1 C& F( T/ z9 E: z
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 u/ r$ n" f7 H5 [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand . U0 x! B( z9 d0 Yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 i3 o0 l1 F/ {2 v T0 D( G
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams & }- h5 F' b% @ Mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, Y# `! L. h( _4 L9 f
medical schools./ c4 K2 C3 s, |% L
$ ?; {1 v; J/ q" P" r+ \; P
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' A$ ~2 g9 U; Z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ S/ Q" R( a6 B/ U$ k
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) y- s1 V/ D& ^7 W K( y' c2 r1 o9 g- I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 8 l0 \: ~- i8 n' P. l2 y' K# `is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 U2 t6 ^" L* a: ~' \
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There + j7 v5 f6 D7 v) Gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and , ]# D. [3 T5 ^mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk * Z' G0 [# u, _ f& W, Q% Rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some, c" F5 D, o: w+ @/ I6 O0 n0 p
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 V6 l1 ~; }7 ~8 `+ t2 D
{! I, R4 F4 z& Q- IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* x2 _* U1 o/ q- [8 c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 2 j* C* r' G& R& p8 l# s% J- Z+ B$ asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' s$ d4 Z% C3 [, E; R1 u) s7 x& X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ H: g. k" L/ F4 _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 0 u5 [( D9 |4 \3 _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* q" W2 K: M. z/ u9 \. k- ~
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 a- B0 s! h1 j% [. I) |$ d
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ! O8 S# }' k' ^, ^' ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only % w: n, S+ H# X4 \9 Z6 ~charge the fee defined by the state. ( e8 A- Z2 I6 J1 H5 t* T6 L/ G. S4 `! [( [) E
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 2 y6 P% ?. H$ i) \2 eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- Z% ^* _: x) |) i
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ' |6 J$ I" V9 s9 O+ v% [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 6 K: v9 o2 ~' m Rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: u- _% F3 E% i( _
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 A( U/ B/ c/ O6 ^! w
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 d9 x+ H7 V! U7 T% C2 |
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& _. F" J& I: Q. J# s' T
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch 3 d9 i8 a& V" [9 K+ P& h5 i4 dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, `8 u# T/ }9 g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 e$ @* A8 E9 z% q$ k7 ]
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or & H! t: V9 P6 Q$ v5 Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there - o/ R, u! C! j& a, S6 Iare spaces. - z, u P' {; s2 z8 r3 _, D% Y( q7 J& I
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 9 U* }" F0 r$ q8 q& Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they * G3 M- o @1 `own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the / l" K2 A8 ^/ e40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 7 D! Q4 u$ R2 V3 ?0 s) cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the * q& p7 w# S6 q# Z9 Y+ L2 a1 rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few & ]# ^/ a/ z# t# anice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 ~/ P2 Q' s6 a2 X
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; [* z4 W) b2 z3 x9 r) h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 Z8 Z5 L \8 d3 M8 E* u; T2 H9 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 ! h ~6 _2 i2 T* I6 l: n0 Ispots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all ( g: _0 B. o5 S# I% o1 N0 {( tthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 9 {. p8 h9 u# Ilimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep. j0 Q5 L+ A- J6 `" m) }1 _
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day ( s5 v0 d3 p. J3 O% }0 esupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of $ j0 q7 M1 D& h5 Zthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 8 M$ q* c3 `; H, g% n; w/ Xhave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the; V' T* n$ m9 k; X
tourist area.4 g( s5 z2 \7 |$ J5 m
! N: \# t2 s3 g" N# aOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 [' Z9 A. t- S
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). t5 g* a/ f: X4 F; M5 OCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were0 A( s# Y6 x( g
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ' X0 Q+ L' V7 g1 a. [
less leader-religious./ p7 M( S$ s% |7 |. J* o
* U% o9 _+ d5 Y5 LAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ; U8 B' F$ z# X" J* n1 d# Q) hgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big - m, h! Z' `/ P1 V/ u- v kblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US d. J$ w/ \7 ~1 }+ ?; g
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).1 J: W+ r# x5 [4 o) [1 X
7 x. M- `' p! x6 n) _+ d4 c& C; }( e
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the3 Y( g2 E5 c0 r! V3 I# f y) ?
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not; c! w" R3 O0 e9 D
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 3 l0 @5 A+ ~4 cconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for : S/ A* o2 N; ^& Q' S$ oforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars : @- O1 f+ u2 `* d(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we$ D( b2 @- [8 `/ O/ J- y7 j
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the% o( A* W, `( J5 |
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. & C' s: K5 Q) ?/ B! N5 eAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local- K& [5 o; s8 [8 ~# _
or visitors. 8 B4 L- I4 L- G5 }+ o1 ~ 9 O. M" z1 q% _4 q; [% u-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
