We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very # X5 k' Y8 w0 a1 v! b5 x1 w% {& uinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we : ?% ~# ]# K$ nwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible. ( c1 ]$ m, m0 I& D8 D! t$ y8 y! M# S; G6 d' T
It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,6 m6 _* f, G0 W! U/ \
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 3 n: Z& W9 J& V5 S! e1 C, va very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as V3 K7 x7 Z5 j- N5 T3 x# o
possible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 7 ^% w: l8 ~: Sshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep ; y! C$ _+ i4 x5 }between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the ( U5 K/ i+ d4 c1 q( W) olobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,% G/ k. p4 g$ B I8 }
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. % Y6 ]6 g U W People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but: ?9 F& s7 R9 d
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not + m0 n9 ~! U, _& j4 iexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our0 V- D3 z2 c* M! U* N, ]
flight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through! B* ^! w* \- a) A# n
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.# X# m& \2 [$ E3 U3 j% }
, Z b+ w* U6 g/ AThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, ! j4 w6 i; {/ v+ M d; Wlow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool" E$ w( n# a W( [8 K" s4 ]$ f
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top) _6 O. H. ^; k& m/ f
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the) v' s* k1 Q, U) G3 a8 M
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from& K; m) H- {$ _! O: I* R
49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes ' {! o) C& z, v# X) i! v5 B8 |- UCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with # Y2 C' d. C7 C, L$ x F/ K" e/ tfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. # P, o8 `0 q% B* d2 _ ; Q+ @/ j% v# L, g. L. aThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are0 U/ Y& X4 B$ S- k, b+ r$ v
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made: S* A, l* o( F+ l+ P) f, W
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba M- s; J$ d" j( Z u7 W8 j
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having ' Y) L8 ^9 |$ Wa staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China3 A( t- p0 u5 Q3 j+ _: y- P
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 : `0 R- K/ A/ b) `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went $ e5 d3 Q. O5 H* Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ `) k+ x" v0 _2 v. L, S- D
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( C" s7 S+ ~7 P/ ~5 ]0 \( d
answers to our pointed questions.5 ~" k; B& E; B+ K
) W; T- w8 F3 _' S1 {3 U8 H! nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, . c: W! [+ c5 `" n3 d" s& P, ]45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 d& K5 z7 F' S9 z/ b* O: w2 u! c
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 ^- Z/ p* U9 F6 A7 Q: R
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams 2 b. ?$ U/ f4 B% u& zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( W8 k2 d4 j! c! ]
medical schools. 9 w9 O% ~2 z$ E6 q5 T7 W/ r2 [& a3 F) O
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the 2 g' m; w8 b: |- ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants S L% m; U. W5 @+ ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years , Q! t* R* k, K8 T& g: Lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 T X2 p0 U+ I/ Z+ Q) G" T
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- G# }) l' g. _, }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' v" m/ |+ D6 S% ~9 b
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) H$ M3 o2 r) s2 B7 Q6 Q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk 8 R6 I$ c, `# t* p+ Kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some, y+ r; ]# k5 B; z1 j* c; b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., K0 y+ @' w% a) @: X5 Y
' _ V8 ]+ Z( C: d, [
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 9 y; X( j" K' n% y' F1 V2 Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ i. @( N ]6 e+ P
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people 1 I, h. R0 r5 ~( Y2 ^. B* Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good . n. O, L4 p: p. y' wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby 4 D0 p$ e- u+ l$ _$ M% S5 Rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high . i1 X' s8 h& P9 |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 5 m2 M# p0 {. p& pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When " C& O" j- d' c. _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only - L' S7 v# B6 p; a Ccharge the fee defined by the state.: \, m! e- u1 ] H: m' ?3 G, A
! r$ R2 [" Y V9 d% n0 t
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get $ A+ @8 ?* Q) A9 O& B2 bon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 2 T* Q. F; w4 n9 `6 C9 z/ d5 a/ yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ; @1 S$ A4 C! s& ?+ I& Y# E9 btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel " i7 J1 D: s' _7 u7 Yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ' y+ |0 q0 m+ x' { T4 xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& Y) U' a6 k0 X3 {5 h4 j# s" q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if h3 i3 d4 o+ d Y$ ^2 `. t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 4 j( ], L8 L$ Y( j( ^ k6 V4 htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 m' B% d& Q" d6 A; z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that ( D' i0 Q1 _6 ]3 G% speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* t, G9 Z3 z7 R6 w2 n0 E$ z3 Q* `
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ c; J. I: L( D: W: m. t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there , X# n; r' y; z' U$ W& vare spaces. 4 R" F# n, y: ^( ]+ [ - y1 ?, I* X4 F" qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ) Z5 q8 x5 E$ ?* ?: Qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they ]. m a( {1 h( e. v" F
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 t" t Y x9 \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different $ d9 a5 U( b5 k* G3 ]. Q( B, hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the : Q1 A S$ ?; V7 W E9 o0 ?best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few # a. u7 @! q: r6 U0 y I+ f2 enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of - S5 I, {2 B5 ?$ q5 d0 @car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it $ y/ I4 ]( G8 ^$ n, H$ t5 Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 P, |! j1 A% l. `
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 y4 y- H7 H1 A( d4 A& espots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all , A& P0 V7 P0 I3 l$ @, H0 d" h9 X$ Sthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very , b/ F4 I& Y/ F1 k0 A2 C5 {limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep# A3 e3 ~: [2 C f& d0 @2 r
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day, r) _2 H, W- L8 W: M; F
supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of 6 f- y4 K3 o$ V& b) j5 Pthem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms, T5 i& E) A* M
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the+ s& U8 {( Q7 O: k. w. M
tourist area.% V V7 }9 d. D& p$ ?
% D# E: \, D4 B, k- E0 j: Z5 s
One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's% F" W7 d; h$ A$ e8 y F/ G+ b
pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). I8 y# D) P9 M6 a1 n6 n, B: w: r
Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were" k8 d" y" F t4 Y1 ` x
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps + S! K/ U- Q7 E5 Y+ fless leader-religious.$ {/ g0 {1 }5 q2 E7 X
) z* ^; p9 q2 N3 Z- F# OAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba " p* E# V( R6 {0 |$ ~- wgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big! ^ f$ Q& A5 j" n2 U
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US V& @; M( ^; c2 d
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture)., T& \' x# z# n, a' h
) i3 w: Q; j9 _9 b+ }We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the- f+ ~3 j+ K/ F2 f! P
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not , Q9 {- i: r$ y& Pthe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1! F) l j$ x R- Q0 n* |/ ^
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for8 f/ j( Z/ I3 N* M9 i7 Q1 y
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars " M5 }( I8 |. w+ ?) z( _4 i(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we9 {- T8 R7 H6 ^, Q4 i3 r
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the" c. z4 b( c# l: k5 ?. O- j
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. & s- e C, S4 }/ i, E! \4 R) G4 NAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local9 A, q) h: \" z. H2 S5 H- P n
or visitors. 2 W4 Y" w3 D, q; [' @5 o1 U+ D$ L! `5 L* ?& W4 [
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
