We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very/ N- z6 P! o4 u
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we; s; V% h' X) F3 |( g
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. + k4 ~1 `# ]6 J) }4 G" T/ W% x7 i! K" b2 m
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ! x1 ~4 Z, P2 c30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 9 G8 h- v, l! G" L! Ja very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as4 l& O2 a5 K. W% k$ o
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort $ X2 Z" w# r. S! {% D6 O7 [4 Sshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep $ h- z, }8 K8 u# Y. i; Q' Ybetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the5 y7 S8 ?' g% e5 q2 e. T2 F
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, - l3 K% v' \8 t3 D& O8 Q0 Fwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.7 I, f+ A% {0 H. t
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but : R7 U8 Q! \2 {5 K8 Enames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not . i7 j$ Z, w9 I; Y9 dexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our: V( h7 {. U( \6 N' N+ L; l
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 1 q& q$ z9 K; n- \, s' _; e8 ga roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. F9 p+ d- r- X9 }0 w! ^; g$ [5 `3 g. A2 X
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day,/ I: l1 i$ P5 A" ]8 F' X
low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool& F- n% d$ }1 \/ N
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top . W- ^, C' {. N0 v# u2 nof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the h. j: J2 g R- ?4 \stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from. m0 U! P: M( E
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ; D; D* B1 P# tCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with7 H% B" `) E+ P5 q6 A
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 9 T; `# f! ~+ ^; s6 A1 F3 D 4 |. \) R$ a# \! gThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are t+ h) y0 P# v |+ {! k
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made) ^' M* r Y5 e/ s
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ' d/ p7 b5 p, D3 ?* Vtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ' V5 H- _+ y0 q) m' g- ca staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China- N+ n, p+ O# O% k, T8 s9 `$ T
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 1 Z. U5 w/ m: P$ ] Dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went 5 _2 `+ _5 u+ ?& W/ t% ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, + a9 }( G# t5 t/ D* _3 m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give ( X* J% U$ _) y4 y: v0 Danswers to our pointed questions.# K' |( v2 y; t: r$ @4 }. o# m
$ l; b/ k# T+ o; g3 JThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 z9 j1 S4 V. s, I: c3 m% D
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* G5 W4 ?8 J7 p1 ^ v! C* @2 r+ m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is & i% X5 X" k2 t zfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; f( \2 Y" m+ F" ~* o- I: K
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; ?/ N- T$ I% \8 c
medical schools. 7 ]; N* Y4 M8 d% H / c8 L3 H! S9 M; |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) H) \6 {9 {, Z+ I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 t2 F7 D2 \2 {: r f
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years " a' |9 b# W k3 E9 y4 wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 F1 R2 b3 D5 {" K" \
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ' c- p7 z+ j; F0 j, oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 6 [* z0 z' c+ C5 mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and 9 t6 Y6 s4 `* _5 j2 ~mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk ! r2 g N: x# `; d: { I" g# yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some + g8 }# D5 d9 {/ Vsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 Q2 k* c1 z: ] h
7 D+ m# d. a2 L& g) b& A0 ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no l7 P+ g, g& x2 Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& _) b E5 m0 Z" f7 n
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people ) a2 \4 X/ z* m( A# bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good - `/ l. l8 a& ]thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby % ]& y2 u6 k# @" _, hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 q! f. [% U+ J4 e* k& U0 z! M6 n% `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. % [; M! i; _ B$ uDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When : f6 w& p H* X+ y' x0 Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only - C# I$ p$ y! ccharge the fee defined by the state. 8 A" Z* j, I9 n* ?! O' b8 J8 n3 t! b3 n4 m+ C: p
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ) U7 x. I8 v( R$ k, r$ i; xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. L0 \. S4 B5 p0 m4 n; r; H
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big - i- G6 \+ Q& l1 ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 c& u$ r8 V. c4 ]: ]
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' h5 D7 v5 @7 p" C* x
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on / r; g$ v2 ~7 `, {+ _5 j: }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% ]3 @8 S- E! P# d+ G/ {! S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ' p0 j2 I$ G2 {8 d9 `9 I1 `- ]3 itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 Q5 k3 I6 ~- ?$ q) F
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that $ }4 [+ p# w T, Y3 Rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 B3 h. P- x% t: ^6 j" @; X
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or ; \8 P4 e2 h+ o. Abuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there- j( g! [+ Z5 s0 C3 F0 c
are spaces. ) Q; K3 s o; r" r1 T0 z9 `, }
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 0 ]; D( L# t5 cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 6 u+ O5 d) O4 e& g I# G# Fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the ' D5 o/ C* B4 r6 E9 J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different + o1 O. j+ B8 |" G1 u4 k7 _parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% W/ L& Z7 J8 ~0 k" X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few + L7 d9 h$ _. ]1 F5 |; Inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of - G- n" V8 @) F U5 A( ^car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" f6 s9 i9 S" M8 ^! g6 P- N
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 6 @8 S! E2 l) ?8 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 & m. \ T% z. _. e; Wspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all6 u( S. Q9 |% x# N& t
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very6 w+ W. n8 h$ b2 l- Q2 E
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep 3 K3 B3 [8 W' M" arecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day6 z+ V$ S9 s" ]( j* h' F5 B
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of ( Y5 K4 F# Z# k0 f3 O' Jthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 2 P# k+ ? q; J' w: J7 ghave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the6 a3 R: D: L2 ]9 b& F
tourist area.8 k: k% n) |& `9 e+ h
7 v2 A1 i9 V: y2 t5 Z
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's # ?+ T$ [6 p, o. T4 U8 v+ }* apictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). % X# e$ f4 k) q# M' g( y" X bCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were; e9 W8 t" o1 v. ?' s
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + L$ }' R! Z8 A# Z9 ]
less leader-religious. 8 O/ @) T3 E6 ^/ M9 D5 e- Y2 w1 F9 @# H. r* j( i1 |
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba 5 o& K; n+ G% y4 n+ D) ygovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big+ m9 s& ^" Y) R! q
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US : y/ ]* w& Z) b V4 s- r/ [& |; l% rembassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 8 K1 U4 {) {, y. e& q( O; f 8 L& \8 l: \# x6 Q- ?We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 2 J1 k3 ^. Q- X% Gparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ) y+ G) `4 K" E& _( Y7 L @! Z9 R% Jthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1+ o7 s3 w* ~0 z' ?& B6 b
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for# X# `7 l$ W- b- F
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars ( M$ E! w! V9 }- s(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we! d: J, |; g' o! a
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the5 s' K4 S& D% X; l0 [5 E4 E% Y
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. 4 s. h5 z u8 W! z7 c1 {$ zAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local/ Z7 j j# M6 V7 u& G
or visitors. ! \: M8 u: A7 `. \: z* i * [8 m% Y! z8 g2 t8 U. b# J- g-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
