We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 3 ?% p( |0 B" E' G( \" d2 V zinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we % S# C2 B7 X; h/ O. \7 q6 awanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.) O& v2 n1 H$ z& M
1 C: v2 ~9 z1 X9 u4 uIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, + ~, ^# U8 D0 W30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in! ^8 M) p3 H% U# {
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as2 g7 Z$ R! `" U5 j
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort- l, q. c4 c! n6 ?1 J5 Q
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 2 G) A$ v- y# G: q) [between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the8 h5 m1 [! W! _' D" j* G( y
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, 8 p1 x* N- a# H5 h# kwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.2 m* }' u6 @/ I; p
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but+ r" ~- w. Y3 S! Y% }
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not' Z$ h$ V) A. Z1 f' b
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our& A8 `! ^; J/ w: V6 l; Z. I0 |
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through& ]; H* y9 ]: ?# j1 @+ L
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.2 ^' f, [* v! e, m2 P0 x
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 7 I3 _, I- L# T* R olow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool + G- u' `& g/ @4 K& T(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top8 A+ w4 `) b7 r4 |/ {
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the }8 `" z+ b/ a, Cstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from) A0 Z( M: }. m4 P* f
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes) X& k* O$ D" j: H$ S& Q
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, {1 U* O8 g" L: J- ?5 |: j& C
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. , @! G, O7 ]9 o1 Q" J3 u . |' H, ?0 S, f2 P' }9 LThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are) j' d" ^, z- x$ A+ b
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made2 ^ T) ^& F/ Y2 Q' c' ^
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba* H# J' K" H- r
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having2 m: O+ L2 Q. s7 Y6 R! a4 [. p' }
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China3 O5 b; z% T$ f0 l' e
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, living9 m4 q* i% q$ A+ o e' x( i8 x
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' w1 o& `( i; }( {' d# z( P R" p
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, 2 @( B. n) D& d( s- I, o"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give # x' J2 \+ h9 `( d" tanswers to our pointed questions.6 ] Y1 E6 }$ F0 e) Y7 f
) Q8 H" T$ v N& b, l
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* C$ n, V T2 e7 f; E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand # i, G' \+ L G, H+ g$ A6 c1 m: ?4 uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is g% O g: B+ l" W$ ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams D4 _& Q9 v* C7 R1 N. H
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 G: @! s+ D* I6 l" S$ [
medical schools. 5 z! K( \4 r( |- M1 L& W 7 e$ H4 |" ?7 |2 B' u; \8 TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* H( m( H% i3 c7 D" g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants # ]* r t/ c9 o# h3 R- ]& M8 Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 P+ V9 Y- d- c: k9 W, I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 k5 c3 V( b# W4 y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ) s) D2 m c! p/ a4 aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 4 t5 C+ z. X2 B m* Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and ; Y/ g' F; Q |/ b4 mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" c: R2 u |& Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some 5 l; v# m( q& J( ^+ E/ {sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& C3 f9 Q: _! _' S( {+ w2 k- {
+ D5 {1 o# ^! Z3 T8 T1 j- L
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 1 ~0 t9 i3 f% K4 O/ h/ h Bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and / K) Q: }6 q6 [% ]0 csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ E! }& D- e7 P- c
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* W& q* Z9 `9 u4 q- |- a) C X( @9 b
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 R5 d6 E/ ?9 b3 q3 G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* N* S, `) A$ N2 ?; f3 w4 _
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% a* J1 G# G2 @6 h/ b% ]
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ s0 X% x: `, d0 E+ V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only % @: I# F1 d* g; `5 c% J; h l7 ccharge the fee defined by the state. + g' ^& a; t" o8 \" W, r: |# a& V9 x; _+ _$ k
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 2 t: x2 i, `3 e8 E/ r* R; |0 zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ( [) b6 ~( W. H3 `of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big 0 ^4 K5 s$ \3 x) o* J. i! ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 3 N: L1 c+ f* E0 `/ O+ g( b9 Qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the " m/ \8 {6 q# X2 _0 x e$ E; mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on - n- K8 b$ a9 ]9 n- [0 Dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 D3 c: X3 s. V2 _
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' L2 B- W( [' ?9 h% w/ l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 H) p! I$ U% `6 N3 v5 [4 x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 W' S; a- m+ Z2 s6 B z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want * K1 p! }: M# I% J% M! R7 I# ~to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 e+ u2 j( z0 E$ ~' r/ V
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there Q7 c7 g5 H6 {: gare spaces.# V8 G; v! N) i& R) S4 X
3 G9 _% a( ^! `" m0 ?2 Z& p7 ~There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 w! |! m6 C7 B4 V. r
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ C w2 T4 Z- y p& K" K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the , |5 f% r9 X$ O5 Z1 n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different $ u" q- l0 X+ v, ]# k4 }0 J7 Q `parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 1 @/ G7 u) P2 j& B8 ?* F! F: D" Dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few 8 z5 Z/ |' ?* p4 Q" vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of : q# V- M2 i) Ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 3 \1 `2 J8 T( \& s' c2 cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 4 U5 D3 `: U' X$ ?- P 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 ) t) L0 l' w% Z0 Q' X7 T. ^spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all! n! Q6 V! m, h; H3 }, e
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very; Q/ ~9 k# l# Q: A
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep6 q1 U$ N" a9 G( E0 r$ C
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day# z2 J( L( R. J, Y8 R1 o
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of% P! n# x, F4 m6 U
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms \+ m2 X* `: X; o3 b
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the ~' y s, N) M/ W% btourist area.) z( W. Y0 R, @$ v) q
2 A0 u: t! i& O! w' tOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's / `# K: P( \9 M. O4 i% Spictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 8 P4 j" V/ m+ zCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were$ k' o/ k5 @7 Q0 {) F" g; C
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps " m w) W0 e& Nless leader-religious. 7 {7 ~ v4 J! y/ F% M9 b , ]& |# J5 D1 fAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba; @4 G! n8 Q; ~
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big. P$ L& K7 R. a9 s" g% Q; S9 \
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US n( I4 ]; ~4 q
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)., U% g6 O( U+ ?4 R. U, ?( m
) X. S7 s0 o: N; f/ A% }2 \% BWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ; I7 {" B1 @, n9 U! f2 r6 Z' Aparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not8 z+ a/ M7 y& l3 B; t
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1) B! ]$ F' F) s$ e$ q5 u! k9 Q
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 7 |+ P u: b% Mforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars 9 L2 a1 F" J$ A& L& x" L* q, ^/ }(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 8 c7 }/ o& u K8 j! cprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the ' Z' |' I' C zreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.3 Q$ T+ E4 @/ ~2 K9 D
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local0 p t- w- n3 v# k- w' v! M
or visitors. 7 I U6 m, d- B! C ^ A& R , r2 l- c/ w# u; W( M# H-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
