We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very1 J( P( r3 {& c1 Q7 p9 k/ I1 x& O
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we H6 h0 h5 R, u$ }8 A! a9 g% B+ \, s8 jwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. 7 L% g) d) V) L. x- f6 S" I9 B0 h6 G4 \$ t6 V9 \' u" B
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,$ ^3 i% P8 y) A
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in0 I8 g! i) I' ]0 \$ a1 Y
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as . u3 V4 }" V! x+ Z1 }& Spossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort ' |# B, g: \# V5 Q9 j( yshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep \$ F' N$ L. v# w* T `! Tbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the / u$ C. D! U3 f/ T1 Y9 o* _2 `lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ! d* Y" d2 H$ Q- a/ Ywith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.6 x( G- {! [" ]4 m
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ! _! J% U) i. j/ e2 | ]+ d! C ?6 E* |names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not ' x5 B# H) a8 hexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our- n' u% c, f, M9 D8 i+ o2 E7 N
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through& D! N0 D6 b! ?; ~8 Q
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards. ; G" D- a7 j4 u4 B4 l , B% f# }% D$ ?) P2 ZThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ' l7 v2 m# m x4 |; F8 zlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool A' H% @* E4 \' a4 ^) e
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top% N v) i! B+ p
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the- H0 P% m: \( h1 h3 _
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from $ C$ i& a- {+ j2 r7 ~49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes " C) j. U3 r/ W$ ^, L0 @Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with, v9 b; @& D0 i7 j! T% b
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. # ?: Q4 @5 I9 ]( k 5 i: v4 V$ o( b) |' `& m8 K, f, jThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are* e& X2 d' G ^; H5 b( D r
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made# r( S% p! B1 E5 B; e7 z j
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba * k q6 e. Z0 q% Z7 \. h6 stourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having" l; L/ d7 z' s. L1 \* L! u* ^
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ' {* {! w! B% Z1 {! o2 s' odaily 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$ u& p/ Z" z! v, h0 ^
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( s( G+ d% y$ K: _' }4 ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 W; _6 g2 Y1 W ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give : ~+ T) s* C* @' f1 ranswers to our pointed questions.% ~- I! x5 ?1 x" h \+ a& }/ v' Z
3 I2 k- Z9 ]( f: X) l' `The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: M6 ?6 h% Z0 O
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand 7 ~3 G$ ^# r! E$ Hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is " H- z% X' E" H& ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 1 m8 ?5 G8 c- {( e$ R) f" eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ a8 O8 ?" y5 ?2 S, S: t
medical schools. 7 e& U. V7 J! P5 v5 y6 T( r f' {( c- _) S9 [3 Y, z
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; U" R" q. _. z2 W" q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants - m3 t8 W# z$ ]1 kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) u1 N5 w3 E5 A# e" X# Z" O F
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- O% F) K0 ~% `5 p" U" ^
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to * F' E2 q/ E2 R/ E b( Nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. z5 T2 W0 S8 p
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and : D: D& h- {" ~0 ]; g% [mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 8 k# q+ J' r8 V6 @, g' q: Y- _0 K! H8 Gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 u8 }+ }2 B/ o
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ; B) V1 A8 Z9 m8 f 4 M& `) G! C2 v! kThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 6 R# j2 o# x# X m# G- ]- _- [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and " z1 E# q6 g4 A* H$ osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" P0 [7 [4 q' s) K3 G G+ E# m
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- z! r1 p( Q1 _& n/ H9 K, e. _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( i2 Z0 j7 Z0 P! n3 ?8 k7 P
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 7 P% R# z: V1 d3 O0 w6 f# idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. ! ~7 `1 I% k4 a0 D6 eDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& Y$ R! P+ f* e, ~) L8 M
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only / F$ K5 u$ W5 N! Jcharge the fee defined by the state. $ T* ?4 N: l1 y F) K7 t! L. ^2 p* a7 c8 \) P
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get 3 f V& W# V9 w0 E* C- von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 O) f: @/ V0 S7 H/ Q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big : J: h6 g& d: \$ n) Y0 [7 \- ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: _2 H% _* o% Z4 u& Z1 L- u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( o6 U7 {& v4 k+ K& J$ j/ U7 C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on ' Y3 w, O5 t. ^" v. d( t" [schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if n. r9 Y1 z5 m$ o5 [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people \9 K7 ~2 Y$ K* N" z/ c5 `* a* \
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* p, P6 E* W) o1 E2 j" A. v
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% B. D7 e" U) Z. I$ U. |
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: ~' d2 G; R: i& c) o1 i
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 k% F& f; T6 _( R& V" w# s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there o @. h) q" N
are spaces. " W/ j/ O) c; D( A: |" J8 [ : d9 {2 R) o. {7 e2 vThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ F( b5 Q/ u& t$ b' f% q7 q* U
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' w. O# D6 k* @0 k& [" L3 ^+ s1 P
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the $ ?9 V) f) l) W) J% M40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 f* r9 D3 y$ c! ~) V% d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 0 o H* s$ E& `. m4 w2 U- qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 @: f, c, s$ }& P5 _ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of s9 R3 `; U& `3 R: {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 |! h4 e( {9 `& N/ t* n5 N) {3 L
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. ) ^ L+ n+ { L. L6 c+ K 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 / z6 y& f2 I5 k; d5 G% o, ospots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all# Z' c- i% u( W' [
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very - p, f) r$ Z7 X- O" m6 ^4 i6 Jlimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep1 y8 K% i& T3 H( [' Q
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day 5 {& j0 D3 u2 x; Y/ w4 d6 w- F2 Osupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of2 [: T$ {% p# I! P
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 9 q/ e) _, h+ m( D$ |+ z! ~have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the * O; E D8 N9 [ _- F8 \, Rtourist area.& k3 [: \2 ?+ ?1 l+ P# h
& c' b6 L' {2 V) n2 `+ |9 ~: yOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's2 e& A% f+ }3 m6 h6 z, [
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). 5 F- ?, T1 c. L0 N/ r! C$ c8 HCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were : n9 W& o% e3 v( Keverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps - X, l0 [ s, u2 N% h& S
less leader-religious. ) z* B$ ?' ]8 x1 c0 L3 @/ t4 a3 s. Y3 o j+ q0 A
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba( u2 ^* |: d" d7 S' H+ i2 ^5 ?
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big' T6 `2 R0 {1 ~
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US% r/ r0 y5 h* L! w" X; w; l1 t
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). & N/ W' {1 O- W, j+ F1 u/ X% A( L& G
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the3 m H7 _# b6 ?. a3 J# V
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ( H/ q+ q9 b3 nthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 ; ~8 o! k( v- d% R$ S, I- Sconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for3 I/ K9 q: C% d- ?2 K
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars3 q* J: J) F$ a
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we 9 a" Z! Z% a4 J# _9 q* y6 wprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the / \7 F1 P+ U5 p( D0 nreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going.3 J) ]% B7 F# d4 j
And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local; {& k3 @9 j% h7 d
or visitors.' |, ^8 x. W0 F4 f+ ^
7 K2 Z- c$ [2 l3 Y1 \: q: U+ d4 l
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
快乐的古巴之旅 2011-01-23 09:01:12 # j" a' {7 [7 s* ?, u) b: C
