We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very " p/ n0 I& f0 `! M# y" k7 `interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we+ S8 S6 o! _. q9 ?! c% B& V- {
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. " h( f) t7 t$ h5 j3 P% Z* k' F; K" M) D* l+ K7 q
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,! _0 }. p0 G9 e3 u
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in * {% _: ^, q* ~0 U" ?" Z4 Ca very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as / S( z9 ^7 N: ?6 ipossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort( ?4 ^* ?) n1 N2 |+ z, ]7 k& w" W( _
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep8 e% i6 L0 q1 I, G& L: R/ r
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the, F5 [) E3 @0 c& g6 e7 E
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, $ j$ }3 w2 T. K8 Y) ]4 iwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. ' L1 | w! F/ h& O2 e People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but ( z% |8 I& M3 Q/ q+ h9 p K2 W# @& _names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not : z% _7 |. U1 A0 g" |& Aexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our " i3 y. [: m2 c1 M/ l! ]; o C gflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through $ @# z$ x5 T6 [: E. j" za roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards." s% }" Z: B) ~: q2 ?
4 `% B7 `( x4 A9 }6 U0 Z8 x" V
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, $ x' d! O( P+ t- klow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool + W; J2 ^) s+ |, ], q% d(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top : K; ^( Q& i1 ~7 n0 Mof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the ' Y9 \$ t8 s+ {/ C m% `* jstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from * R) o; @0 U3 n6 W2 R! M$ K49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes - B# p. F1 p) R% MCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with 2 M+ ^7 P" G E- Hfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 3 h5 r a! Q9 t7 s$ |* W5 M* h. b5 \6 \; A
The resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are , ]% Q$ i2 R# h- K& U3 hjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made( ]7 k6 }( \; \" [- H6 c1 a5 Y
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba5 h/ \; a$ X' M3 H7 b, m- {
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having8 y+ P3 { I- n; E9 `
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 2 J8 E. Q, r( `+ jdaily 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, living0 ]; p+ C+ X2 Z3 A5 d2 W" m9 i
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 m; z; S8 O i5 Z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 F3 D( @; a) N. S
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give ' Y( j' b3 T1 ?; canswers to our pointed questions. : O0 Y* a6 l7 x" m+ [& w( \8 I. q) m. n- [& H
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: y4 M7 S/ n4 |5 q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ! W( @1 D6 E" e. A+ pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 M3 K/ m# @; K/ y! Y6 E: `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams : n- q- X7 H; O! N& `, Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are ) H( t/ h) k" j$ Smedical schools. 1 T, ?4 j- \8 L% e( V- Q; s5 I2 P/ S# t- ?( ^1 v
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the / x# n/ A+ c; D7 b& H9 }( i6 wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* b) I2 ]9 D1 o# U: D$ c% x% M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years " ^$ M! ]( o, e0 G" B/ D4 W% Hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ; O7 a% c6 y* [9 S3 E3 V$ n; h4 J iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ H6 P( G/ o4 G+ \3 a9 g c
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There 0 z1 c3 U; ~; v% \8 Vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- i* z6 W( O0 M9 y* ^8 N
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* E# q/ ?4 ~7 ?) D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some . u4 v" J0 k4 [* t' H: dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ g0 g; f0 T, U4 S
, i: S! r( T D! i! D: Y, N
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no ) B3 C3 }9 m( }4 S/ B" xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and # L/ _( Z. I! c+ S: Ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people & z0 r( j# v$ jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! ?0 D% V v) A" g0 r2 @
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 9 @0 q* F, v- |. bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 a4 {5 Y1 P+ {3 j' G6 D/ ^
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; l! G: G3 d3 k8 f/ m: q' r
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) P9 U! A# l" b; D- Y/ N
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& H3 y4 A! Q' `
charge the fee defined by the state.6 ^" @9 y) H& U' X, U0 D8 Q+ a
; w- d- ^8 v% \, \9 {& Q. aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get * y; c# h, W5 M% D/ C% Eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" X7 M. ], M( ], G/ S5 r* `5 K# m
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* s, y# X( G q1 e9 }( v2 h V
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' p, b# x) B8 X0 d$ { H
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& d1 _6 ^ ]+ N) B5 ^
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on & F9 h! W. z- K. P6 i: }1 gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ! |) K# X9 n+ P- Z6 a# |3 Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 9 W6 J4 A4 p) Htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ) ~9 ~- g3 b0 u* @, Ihiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 P8 F; I3 b5 O- `3 `/ m
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want # v% J& U+ J) ^0 Ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) Y5 a ~2 r( ?* q# j; F
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 6 H6 Z1 M, v# }- N& `8 bare spaces. 6 p" k6 H& F1 ]9 Z 5 R$ l9 n% H; Q; c2 k& k+ JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 h: ^" D; n1 y7 R" n" K2 d' g5 a
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- ^! ~5 d+ P( K- p. d4 x; C
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 X# z7 _6 J o7 v& \! V
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: g! Z8 R# s4 p I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the : D" |9 X. X7 mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few / `' u( C. F4 a( @$ ~nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of & ] |, A, k( z) T( T3 R: @car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% [# P- D+ ^0 m: Z* |5 h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 E3 w1 L3 T. o7 G& w1 W8 B
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 4 t; u8 @8 [* D9 Fspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all / t* s+ A" e9 |# D. Y2 h8 qthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very# U8 d: c" f, G H0 c1 J" E6 w' n
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep / g7 n$ L; `5 M2 ?5 Rrecession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day" _: B; g: G; n* A. R# H1 j8 z
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of * M1 P: c( [& p vthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms0 x7 \3 g$ \+ X" M2 z5 t2 o+ W6 @
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the # A& |5 m: d% J& S: ltourist area. ! {. M. ]) S/ k5 a: w, S 6 K H; q" Z% p4 t. F6 `One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's ; r. G1 B/ d- epictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ' W' q' H- A; i# mCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were* q2 o4 H$ x% s8 i
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps : t7 }+ ]( H) ]+ Eless leader-religious. ; K1 B" ^+ e0 F: }8 x+ D4 r/ ]! C6 J8 m/ p- k+ T0 z: O2 O# q
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba ' C$ m9 c: k+ r/ Qgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big. N( \8 g( o) H: t" k# C) A& V* ]0 s
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US, W' r0 L% i- S7 g! I
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). % t- O* a) W. e6 _# i9 Y. O: R$ o9 C1 G
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the ' m& S1 i# u& F3 V, x jparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not 3 a6 P) V" R! m6 h" o5 kthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 * z. P* g) _+ ^6 s0 dconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for# V" }; P4 @4 R1 {* _) c
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars $ |* u& B1 A- V/ v1 p/ F; P(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we ) N% `. z4 U' oprobably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the: g2 _+ P# ?* |- W) z7 A3 P
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. : A7 C& i# x$ {3 T8 R5 h. CAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local7 D* V/ j5 n; {& r
or visitors.. n+ Y; s* z3 v- d: I3 |- T
8 h9 t) U# f4 C; f- _8 D; w
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
