We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very 8 y6 o7 Y; _4 _3 f4 cinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we/ i4 q; Q4 w4 q8 K0 A7 U/ z, e: h
wanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.+ }3 k2 K) w" I0 M! p1 Y
/ H: y8 C8 t) A% U3 s1 x0 a9 HIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young,) Y. a6 Y' u2 z `' V3 w4 r
30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in- j2 Y; z5 c: {) F" D6 {- A0 j
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as * K7 { d) ~& _, dpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort7 T% b9 @/ I. z
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep* A: X9 Z! x5 V9 s( s
between the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the , y; u, @& }* {3 }% Z, q T5 Nlobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all,% |% F# z: P8 f* N# r
with people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there.. M$ @9 j, q. t- s
People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but : B! a$ v- E2 @+ Pnames (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not5 e) z% C& F T
exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our ! D* M7 b: P; }/ z: Y4 Zflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through) h' e$ ^% M/ g: c$ F
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.) \" R9 R6 H* O6 i `& T- [/ u& r
E( h4 w8 S8 o
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 9 z H& n4 [7 elow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool ; V% g$ \2 D. o/ S1 Z5 ^. ~+ Q(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top 1 `( R! ^3 k! u: F7 Jof the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the : q: V; Y) |) V% F! hstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from # \7 [8 ~6 ?# ]% z49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes $ b0 P& h: T9 SCuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with2 V5 U0 s$ F* q* @
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. % \, N" _2 W, M% ~, `" ] & x; G5 h+ K5 R3 z- F, r7 D$ z- UThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are" S' G: R) p- d5 \( Q1 q
just very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made 9 {9 n4 `. m! T+ x% vfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba. A3 U8 v! n5 t
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having + v8 h4 i8 w& l. ka staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China0 @$ U _7 Q& R! _8 Q+ W( \0 H/ |
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! j9 d4 _. r* S; w( T/ x
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; ]3 X- w4 s5 z$ h2 O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 R b' M4 d/ x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% V' z6 Z( N5 d
answers to our pointed questions. ! d4 k7 s8 ~8 ]1 k% i. S, }* a2 T$ F) y4 [
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* Q& r5 t# C8 z8 ]5 L% f; \; S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ; G; J; P: P, Yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is & k" N0 J( b" |5 a" W. Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ; r- s1 d! Y# N1 y4 Y5 e' ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 8 H0 {; g& m8 P! k6 K$ d- f* Amedical schools." ^) S5 `3 F- j' U$ W7 ?0 h$ C
}0 {* k U# D' ^
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# m/ s5 |1 B7 m+ R. _# Q( V) T
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ r3 g9 ?% R' y: ]8 a( _
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years # D! d. j# t0 E7 L" uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba 0 \- A; t1 I( Q+ tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 4 @2 q8 F& T" F- Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 |* F+ _ p- T$ M+ f; j
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and : S- v0 D: @( R3 D( I* }mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" C/ p% g0 e- C. O8 Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some / a7 R, P7 j- O- H C* d3 Osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. : j$ }" @$ h$ m9 u, C( G# s7 |* z6 z" [1 {1 |; D. E
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- L; Q+ v6 R3 M( e$ I! Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and 1 n% V" C7 Q1 \3 X0 _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people # V2 B- E9 D7 _2 P" dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good; u6 d" h2 K6 t( i) d9 l! p
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby / Z4 O) p' W0 \* Y# D1 Ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' m; A1 Z% U1 |, N' C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. 2 o. b ~: O2 D4 Q2 KDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When ) Q$ @3 |+ {' d: q' w0 Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only , d6 d/ c! O1 x8 q, X! Q4 zcharge the fee defined by the state. / c+ W! W( r& q: S: j- O9 B9 i9 C& J' F" t
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 e0 s0 g" y" |+ Z; C+ E5 n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type 1 l6 R1 D* h b: ?; Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ! K6 n3 F. y1 k% l- a% xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 v& @3 j9 J: W6 J1 j$ k$ w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ( l& h( c# q+ `/ Iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 0 G; }' V: ^* ]schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if & I- }* O* J }you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ; s. U2 V0 v; l `3 ^- t% _8 o0 @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 J- \# v: `8 Z5 \0 u0 h# O$ G
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that " L: {- L6 ?, s$ z8 c% H$ R/ w& a5 [people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want : g3 ^# h5 y7 r. t. z( yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or 0 N4 N' u7 V: g( M4 ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there 0 J6 J. E3 \4 [& B& S p1 hare spaces.+ s. g2 l( P) G# j! T5 F! x. k7 n
+ ^; L- ?* O- A( C& F5 h- a7 A
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi 0 R, z) V$ ~$ Dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they . |# Y8 B" u+ S0 M/ ^ Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 `0 ?, X( k& {) f$ ~8 L0 L
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 4 w" W& \: F1 u ] g! \0 G. aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ i1 t/ ^- s& e- y3 U a
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# H( G* r7 p: [+ |( s4 x8 G& {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ e" R# O4 u) {4 Q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 3 q$ \) o; P+ B, vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. Q# I: u- U* ]7 m' N
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; } H {( h; Z/ o8 i
spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 9 Y1 S% s8 \/ bthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very 0 P5 ~6 J% t) e4 ylimited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep8 c% U4 p6 G) p y1 q: v! m
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day n$ p" k+ }. [1 w& L, xsupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of. [# X) N; F) S( J# j
them are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms 9 u9 q/ d7 N W) _6 h2 Ehave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the5 O% n6 O* H6 G% V. m
tourist area. 9 Z+ K4 X2 S: R6 n9 C$ b6 O' Q 5 T( Q; r t$ g i" h0 M8 s# Q2 Y3 zOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 4 Z: B# A8 b& |pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). $ @) t& D/ M, H# Q2 kCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were " m/ q1 x2 \8 ~/ @/ L% W) veverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps c7 w6 }1 ]' g2 x6 H( Vless leader-religious.6 o5 E. N. |6 Q" W7 k
* E0 O! r% v: ^; C" ?0 d
About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba: L8 G, o' p2 h2 {$ x; s, y
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big0 H! }) y6 L) ]% v
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US" h X' ]2 f+ f7 K7 y2 s# `
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). 8 H @: o& k; I + r4 ]7 G) _ d, R3 s) k- SWe did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 3 e3 J `! O" ~- s' O0 ~. iparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ]" M: _& C6 F( z; E: R, @the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1- X* o+ Z, p i4 F" ^1 f" s
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for3 \5 N' L8 [7 i* ]4 k
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars8 b( u' G2 r1 T/ {! b% ?9 s$ A- l
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we6 q- y$ y; r0 P* a/ u7 ?2 {
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 1 q9 H. ?$ O% }" Q7 _real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. & s' q) | ?1 m6 k, |' |; O9 aAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local/ t' d' P' ?) s" X3 N
or visitors. ) m: [5 Z6 F# R S8 _3 P8 u9 {# q4 `" r7 f- ^; Z9 Q6 Q: m0 `
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
