We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very) o8 q, p7 P! d) t3 c$ t
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we 7 ]4 v$ U% |! D& f0 |wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.1 x! h: w) ^: f1 p; z+ m( C5 w
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,; }# r5 G/ E/ i
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in * y% F( g' w7 G* Ea very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as + a( M. e6 r8 |: ypossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort . @ Q4 |: N3 n, ~0 K2 o4 Nshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep0 e" B1 T) Q2 c5 E |
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the , e2 J2 x$ F3 D5 K5 H Elobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ; S1 A( J7 h5 O0 T* D7 Kwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.) A, E: f. ~1 J( I: M! u4 s* `) b
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but1 p' @5 z7 ~3 D7 s7 P
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not - o" Y' M* |7 n$ c" s9 `exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our" _( g& P6 C3 Y# {! L
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through H& \2 G6 ]- [# { y" M1 X% O, Na roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.4 y9 G) r- |0 k, O6 ^
; G' ^7 X2 `, ^ p2 Q: ZThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, , M1 U3 h) }7 I7 ?. olow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ' k0 h6 e( [+ x5 N- Q7 {8 ](when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top: v6 F- @1 s" z7 x0 d
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the9 B+ V7 @. F& J9 z. \7 h* r
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from ' N, f( g, q8 ]/ G% [49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes 4 w1 x: Y# F, h, t7 g1 `2 tCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with' x# j$ {# Y9 ^
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada.+ @1 j/ ]% r9 B* g4 ]' J# Y
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The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are2 @* F, [% x' O7 Y
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made! V# J/ c. @3 c$ Z& G
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba9 e$ `# L$ E) [5 v$ O3 t @# g
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having . }; {7 N& z0 J" ra staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China9 y- @8 ?2 X( F5 V
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. ]+ x0 Z2 P2 A7 c6 T; n( ?
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ( v7 }2 ^& g& l/ f2 Z$ ^1 @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# d! m# i$ b( i
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 t: L! z* D' ]9 O% i% B3 {
answers to our pointed questions. L1 _9 o, ^2 N5 X2 j/ m: W 1 {! G: l% e' J: H# q9 v, YThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% s) x& J- v5 `0 F& ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ! F5 T% \6 {; w$ q1 m H' C4 }out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! X; }& x6 a5 N" V5 }2 _4 {
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams # ]* b& `% s1 ^. Rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' }( r e; g5 S2 K5 h) o9 y8 ?
medical schools. / W K% M3 s8 i" S/ _! @3 \" v/ v3 I0 z9 P( k9 B, s
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ; t2 |( ~- F1 ~9 S" X- Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ! z7 E2 Y" G! b( e3 t" F6 yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 9 N7 j, j( _: S6 K, U8 v4 E) m) ~: Passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 2 {/ `$ h7 [3 H( v) e' \is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* M7 J% `7 d# ^+ n& S! j
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% c3 E q/ n; H, `3 B% A, C
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and & f) a% e! l# v% z6 umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk k: @/ ]( ?1 m& x) r E
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ N. H7 x: _& Y1 B; X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. 2 q9 L$ j# B* m( b- i1 X7 b% {: {" s- k( C& O8 X' F- {
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 3 H6 x' e9 @4 b( S( Eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* ?1 q) |9 v$ }
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, I: V- K/ |0 v2 W$ j$ G; u
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good # F+ J; t1 |& ]- h' ~thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 ?, C/ X3 {7 O+ K9 {
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high . M* p/ r' I7 _# ^, Z- Y4 K+ Udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: R" v4 J8 V/ g8 r1 t/ N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 V- V# t0 \) b" R' }
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 m$ G2 q. k6 B# o
charge the fee defined by the state. - l! L: }$ r* D. W( b# `+ K5 Y' n5 k
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ V7 X: J. D. o8 }# J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 9 y t1 ^- `6 p* tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: |0 c( ~6 G# _$ Q8 }1 f
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel " Q) o" ^* w' i8 g8 w1 G h/ Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. ]/ U. S3 f' T; ]: Z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 0 i3 t& I& O$ J2 Nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 h/ C$ K) C( ]7 o- y. Y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 4 N( q& E4 M: e6 F4 Ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ' Q: u8 c: k0 b B) U" ghiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: J, x z& d# f6 z/ M" I c8 V
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want # ? @6 `4 r( K& ^# M) i9 N7 Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 9 ~* d- o' k9 m+ ?- D8 x1 Bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) E+ X8 P$ P) L: y3 R
are spaces. 6 |8 a* J+ T/ x# c& n# H) i" c' C3 ~5 P* [
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: [) N" B5 ^% N7 t! K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! q! ~: I: c' [/ M2 i
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# b) Y( n, x0 q; u- g$ z3 x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 W7 V( e. ~! x5 p
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ' D- r/ u W/ e! G: Y( {0 Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few ( ~' \, r( @% [% F6 Lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of : F0 n! g! d b" }9 q3 zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it ) k T( j9 e" ]( y0 d% _, E( F6 Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ; L0 N" E% s& @- Y1 v 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 : E6 ^/ V5 o) ?" B, h- r* v, bspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all' H. G8 S* A/ y0 L+ N+ g
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very $ ]) r" k" o# L! r2 plimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep0 m: s' X- g' J3 l' q- A9 g
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 5 s$ Y. q. a% D7 }7 C% Fsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 9 G2 l5 h7 N3 k {6 Lthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms* H0 ~& d1 I" ^6 l9 l" j
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the5 e/ z/ _+ z7 u& k% G
tourist area. 5 P, o7 v# S& Q6 m+ l* q! `6 Y8 Q1 o6 l9 b. N* N4 ? D
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ; ]. F j9 H7 D: E, l( dpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 2 R: M( ?' R8 J* U# sCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were! {" ^/ W+ I$ r o* [8 i( x
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ) i" s) r% C, M2 G( Z& P
less leader-religious. . o# I8 g+ q( M X! r: F7 f0 h, `; K % {& a D. o8 F* tAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ) ? g _* g4 R: Z+ Jgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big+ r4 B& y! U& J5 s
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US8 Y+ W; q; Q* X+ y. b
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 1 j! I( \% |' d. k+ k4 a: t' w 2 S' z" r! E+ g9 w' p9 X) u1 \We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 4 T/ {2 V& o+ f- j- i7 T' lparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not & Q4 @: p) u' ?( Tthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1+ r$ c# D8 w( q6 M6 E$ J3 Z q4 F; b
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 3 q# n7 M7 I& C2 k: l Rforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars % f$ J. K; g4 l* C( w% P" }(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we. b' Q' B% A) Q$ w
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the6 U2 k. s3 N+ J7 f
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.& j1 k2 c- X4 D8 ~; N
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local 3 e6 r8 B8 A0 g5 A! |( Qor visitors.+ p& } s: a6 r: d! N+ `2 ]
2 Q! F5 k0 ?0 L8 d' x-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
