We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very. r7 T, k6 ~" o0 }
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we4 n8 ^0 {/ d% y5 n, [6 a0 L
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.2 D6 t ]) y! G6 X$ B" P; `. c9 B" d
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ; ~- w- W* {* O( _% _30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in& M7 y4 \5 f0 [4 m. X
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 5 o' c4 ^* E; K( l7 f0 Mpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort* l# e9 {' Z' ~: z$ L* x$ Y
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep # H' y; s/ F" @0 Rbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the' I+ L; J1 b. {# o: V; C, l9 L+ D
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,( V0 Y! g8 D4 i0 E8 R
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.2 v: `5 g1 o& a H& x) ?
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but " [, c& p. s. ]$ _) z# anames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not 3 n8 @9 g Q' l" | e Dexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our9 `# J$ g! a9 e7 p3 O% y; h
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through7 ` x# v% m: \5 {5 @, q
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. # @6 y0 y: N* [4 n7 W: ^/ ?# v" A/ L9 j: M! s% B* Y
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,. o# W( q/ h8 N! ]: N5 r1 Z2 L
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool+ C& Q. Q& M5 |2 K' L
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top ' S/ P6 M% V! O) p! q* X( qof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the 5 ]" L: h& Y) \# R- \6 a" q: {stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from! Q; P& i3 ^& v# ~5 `7 J
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes' H: W* ^2 U5 b6 z0 J
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with4 t, D( m7 x4 v5 m9 t' ~- C" h$ L
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 0 q% B o8 P% S0 J! y& b+ F7 Y5 ] R. X& E
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are* l) ~9 h c( W5 J" K+ L, t" Y
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made6 b+ [# e* i$ Y8 w
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba 8 i2 A% Z: H: X4 G# a; Vtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having6 r9 {& M6 R7 u6 v! `+ s9 O) e
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ; y5 K5 h) h, @& b: x3 R7 o: Mdaily 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, living2 |5 F9 G# [. }* M" G: n
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went ) O( j/ H) U1 w# C$ a; jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' ~' C9 y" K; V3 J9 I& _# p
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 l' N/ `/ `* {
answers to our pointed questions.' }' V" ^) p. ?; G
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, \- ]; i0 j0 ~6 C! Y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; X4 c* c. i, N; b5 T6 r
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 f/ }( j' `1 N3 O" I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ t; r8 }) _4 X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 5 p" v/ ^6 l2 l7 rmedical schools. 5 z' h5 J$ V' K5 o4 @) o+ G+ O R8 N5 p9 W9 ^( `, O3 t0 O
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# V2 P1 ]. l: h# T0 O; N2 |
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants ( f; B% J$ Q0 x# l+ i) bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 l% D; ?$ G, ~* ]# g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 8 u! g) s6 b5 o, \# E" dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 3 n9 C- [& T9 t- x# Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 6 t& Q- p. h nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 5 p$ s* _1 M; W3 Z- N5 Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ' d6 j& _, B6 G* ~" a( X, H- q+ t6 [" eshortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ h8 G( q; I. k" e1 \4 B% b. }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. % \9 {* _. D9 t9 g $ z# k* b" ?+ a: Y7 {The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ; X6 W* {6 o& mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ' F' B0 x7 x, s1 i: C) w) U4 Osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people " A& h, c5 l% o( ^7 q+ ~have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ K1 f& ^+ p3 k# t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 9 w1 }- m: u" e' S" C% hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high ( r; `$ v# o' }divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! H& m" K1 b7 X* X3 E" v0 a# x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ e: k4 X4 G% }/ j
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) d4 A0 y- X- g" P7 B/ ?
charge the fee defined by the state.! U/ g3 A* i4 {: j, ~
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( _6 a8 n# R5 M8 E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 7 A( S# i! I9 K. C1 _of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big / |% ^2 z# S7 A! j5 k p( Ktruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel - ~! @1 h3 T/ P# M/ J' Q& P; A0 a6 sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ( l: F' ^ t! \& V$ wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 X+ o1 Q' B4 a& Z# _5 g" t e
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; K, n3 D8 w& m* U& O
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people " P* E, j- ]9 ^" S1 h) x' Rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 I% A A# T/ N3 N$ d: Y6 G$ D2 n
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ {2 q9 [0 H) r/ c3 N: P
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want x0 @* m1 q: m( d( k2 g- n# Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or @. z/ l$ k1 A) A. N+ Y5 d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. F' | }( l! K- Y* k- p' X0 r9 K
are spaces.( @0 n. I' [& e1 v! P6 O* n/ X
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi - ^5 ?! t+ ~# Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 h) o0 Y- g! I! h- _& j) ]" l: C
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- b) x' P; ?$ f3 q" q$ z7 i! e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different , _: i7 ]2 P1 t: O) ~% Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the ! r: k# `! Z5 Nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) r% d4 X1 k3 l Y8 q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of * }# P% a4 B" B0 v, g4 }( q. N! fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 4 D" i& I8 x3 h, L+ Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 8 O# Q! C$ ? E 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 beautiful7 }, M# W( [$ J3 T7 S) x* A
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all / a$ T V5 K$ R2 O9 ?the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very3 X u! r) Z4 S, _0 O
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep1 H: B. X( Q# T0 T9 ?
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day" I" B$ J1 a9 @+ G$ u; \- f
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of : ]- l( f. T! |& Q. N# C* ^% z2 sthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms % R; r9 ?- I" |have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the; Y K/ A2 w' q: R( A+ H: T
tourist area.) C/ y2 ~7 }8 s- u/ f) j
! f% n( F; s/ F! TOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's / M7 e* f) [0 \+ W2 Fpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara)., e* n9 d3 s& Z) w- O4 ?/ ^
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were8 v0 }) B+ ]0 T% \
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 m& P6 l3 ]7 T9 {2 B
less leader-religious.+ d8 z( k J) U% f
* l: R9 ~" b" f- ZAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba , a! m: V+ J3 a& k; i) Z5 Jgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big 7 H0 O9 s( t# a' w0 qblack flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US8 f9 ^# v. H1 R+ o
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ; y, X* N4 u' Y& A0 |. e; a0 B8 c( Y' s6 [) ]& J" ]* ^! X9 V/ Y
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the + \1 s: G, V7 i& _8 xparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not- {( D% E1 I" ]4 S2 z5 d9 F) K) X
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1( \2 _& a) B- x! z4 n
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for0 p1 k) |6 z* M7 S8 ^
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars9 O4 ]) Q1 `/ g0 c4 V& ?
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we / {; H e7 ~) Y3 m3 K/ Q' r+ b: v0 Vprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the7 T- L: _# N: i* C- k6 m
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.' s, a+ F7 V4 C9 I
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local" X) y, i; s1 b2 c `/ I
or visitors. ) t# k# p: ~1 w: f r5 E/ F% q X' ~, v) t+ n% t
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
