We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very- Y4 g: |# u; M! z# d3 `+ h
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we, ?" h# d0 {3 \2 \
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.. K- v( n; U% ]+ R; N4 H
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, & ?7 j/ J K) _/ t' R+ `30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 8 O% ^/ |1 Y1 z) y- Ma very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 6 ^0 x2 ]+ f* W/ `5 ~ k: w2 I: m; Ipossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 5 q* k' Z3 Q9 Mshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep 5 V* {& x6 A0 \ ]% |between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the # t- M+ [1 P! c; u, I% r6 S ]( Mlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,: K9 z. l; h# o4 m
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.) p8 N x2 t1 L1 U
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but& A5 Q; i5 ]0 a9 X/ N* k: F/ ]5 z( J
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not + Y* v! O- E3 C# S: Mexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 1 B, C$ d: T: ]( Wflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 3 c2 d. ?2 S9 E `2 y [, wa roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.! D' D- M/ j% M& l! S& r; ?! n
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The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, - k% a; `% b0 S, Z8 glow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool y8 |( [1 j( @4 r" g(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top * U9 ^& A. s) o% Q; ]of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the, Q2 }! P9 R6 U5 r0 J1 h
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ! I, Y% \: w3 V" d. ?7 c+ a: B+ I49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes$ e+ I. ~9 \) W3 | v9 Q
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with / N' r- x4 h1 |fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 4 g% Y, i1 y/ p, I7 b) e ) H- u; q- I. U' qThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are( @& d# u6 l* e; p
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made( X/ G/ e) j5 k- r Y
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba5 S+ ]3 f) ?, k5 `! f6 e
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having $ V; X, r5 @ `* s2 J n" qa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China `4 F9 j! n7 M
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 3 V1 ~! G* c$ u, sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went % S. a/ D: q" \& h/ @* y! Q L8 aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: ?% ?8 [1 w/ e% v3 o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 U! S/ i- O9 Y8 a
answers to our pointed questions.2 O( V- R- z v( t' E
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* i# C# u( P, e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ( [2 p8 F% {. v* \% Jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is y7 e N' C3 k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams / b( ~. Y& M, L% n( pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! Z# ?. j8 G, y9 o+ _' T! t
medical schools.& A# w3 }# b1 B
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, J5 ~( y- _6 ~
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* a4 t% F. f3 u* F
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 _1 q+ t9 X/ u8 v3 k/ p* l
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba + K! p5 ]. ~+ j }- ~0 ?" tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& Q" `7 K/ X, S; c
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ {8 v) T8 L: b; r# N; m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and % W- h+ b$ U/ tmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 1 r$ I2 i# v. v/ \' W" e" J4 gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some( I/ d, L+ g" t- i8 c0 x
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& j5 v1 N+ q5 Y ~0 f
! v. }: P5 d8 q0 b5 aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ) L, D; @& a/ O O, r1 K9 Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and * ^7 f5 H7 U3 a* v$ O: Esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. g: A- ^& S( x$ }8 d" U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 k* ]# k2 u5 a- p$ A" v7 |* {
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* _. ?: J& u+ x7 F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high n9 M* c, L! n J zdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. / j* J9 n4 U) p! M' S pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When 2 p: G' u0 w3 B! V( D# q; za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only ; e* h7 K4 z% G: t+ S0 N" Tcharge the fee defined by the state." G3 j% J# z; ?! V2 t+ W- V5 d
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ X6 x& D. K( [, D
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 1 [0 H L e8 j7 xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big " O. `1 l7 U# [& n. Ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel 3 \3 ?4 n9 Y5 {+ @* D/ E# yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" v# _. C- e# U* N, D% R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on $ `$ m7 d. |, D' _, I6 j( e" T. dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ( p8 ?1 c+ m9 Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people . O3 K+ E2 }2 ^" S& etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( S" v: l4 B0 x1 N* f# S
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% ?8 c) c+ C$ N, L, \" e, f2 X
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 V2 k8 E" z& V8 t9 i9 J
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# G: P! I8 e8 W7 t8 M( j0 [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. o; t- X4 x. d" L- m0 W! q
are spaces.# _% \; c2 a* Q& \- R% X* L
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; N1 `2 y3 F3 s# S! U4 O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; s v+ @; a% D6 h' I! {; f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 9 h/ [, p! s6 k1 I40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different " M$ g4 q* E2 N" K. j1 y/ tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the + A% s9 [. T2 O7 g# d, jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; _9 E+ B4 _$ E7 m& x8 f
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of ) W5 t* ~ `7 U9 @: f! k# I* ?. R# C- Kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it8 Y" A& g' o6 S$ C4 h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' x0 u1 {1 S$ S. V% ]& 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 9 w+ J) c' o7 w) G8 D7 x3 p( Xspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all6 `0 Y' q& U+ M3 E2 V
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very8 b4 E" e3 V# C5 [ r5 b4 Y, Z
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep " }( h+ J8 y4 W# ?/ X% B7 R# `, precession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 3 j& ~/ ~ P6 hsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 3 P5 S' u* p. x1 Tthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms . E; Q, b2 _4 h+ S5 I- |$ P* z7 @0 }have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the * u# d+ D- i) u/ O. Itourist area.8 a$ C( R3 t( @& @3 l! l+ }0 C
9 G% G6 Z% J2 F. N+ i1 xOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's% Q5 u5 f+ G' k) R3 D1 K/ s1 e
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 9 k+ t- n0 Z$ m4 Z5 w$ `) X! e9 pCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were5 z' w& e6 C1 E( s
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps / K1 ~8 P4 n K3 O$ dless leader-religious.4 _/ ?5 {$ t( U; @$ Z: p! K! `
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba $ y, F' D* X* o; b( ]3 Z0 |government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 4 m2 f. M3 v6 v% U3 sblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US- ]" @' [ @# s6 f. y4 k4 A2 T+ q
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). + o1 g# G" h0 f2 A( `' T6 J9 B( o* s: h m
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the; k5 ^% v# }6 N, m/ w: c3 l8 y0 X
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not : R7 R; c- a$ B" Z E7 L7 V! |the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1) e* f0 a, P" U1 ^# \+ T5 _; E; ^3 `' r
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for . h0 a9 v4 R. m) Vforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars6 [" T$ r( [ M4 A# y, \
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we3 E P+ Z& O( ~! s6 k6 L( @3 P
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the # X4 X% V+ n: greal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.) h! g" t5 x/ h8 H8 R3 ^( W' B# ]
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local+ P4 Q. u/ |) x; J! d
or visitors. 8 a9 e( X8 P1 F! a9 a6 y* ^& b# d/ x1 @, `9 x- X P9 j$ c
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
