We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very - A2 a3 K; t8 [4 P& k3 f9 P$ Vinteresting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we : P% o1 i- @( w2 Rwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.8 h- [( o3 T5 N! v$ n/ W
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It was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, % C. ^, R: c1 a) I30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in0 o! H9 g2 f! O; ]$ w" w3 R$ b
a very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as 0 g9 L" J* V$ p& D- Cpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort, I; V" T* v1 R* r7 v8 S) G
show/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep : R, K* m5 J8 h1 t0 Cbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the5 L3 ~6 G, P& \
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, ' k7 J1 P0 K9 Zwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 7 N' P5 p5 p4 |- A People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but # E% O( g1 \! d) }' [names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not # M5 U$ F2 v' D) Z$ _exchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our : @& u5 m/ \) oflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through+ N, j$ m7 w3 P/ r' ] y
a roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards.; C) \4 e8 ], o9 U/ {$ L
/ W* B: I' x4 AThe weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, 5 l% V# ?& H! C1 x: m9 V# b6 ]low 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool- u1 e. u2 ]# _1 v( c5 t
(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top5 E* g* h# {0 i
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the$ x, ~5 X2 g% [+ Y
stars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from , r2 E1 [8 ^; r0 r( V8 R# Q49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes" W9 q; w' k( f4 i
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with - ~% ]: U1 G9 J! tfingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. 2 V+ o; G0 u. g3 |8 m' W , x4 a: a$ w4 s, lThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are 1 k2 q& b! T! \& g8 cjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made1 D' [1 Q% Z( v2 Z! P" s
for us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba ' L2 d( t( c1 K* W# |- Rtourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having 5 P" M" i7 M- B6 U1 i6 S8 f2 Ka staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China 3 d9 K+ a z5 X0 |0 ]' f' xdaily 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 k/ I! |- t2 F9 Fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% i7 U% }: ?( o! b. c+ x$ I7 C
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," l' E7 f1 l J! s' X% d: L2 ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give , K& D& g8 M/ danswers to our pointed questions. 8 \3 B" z. s$ k* z$ }$ a. x9 R! S- \' D2 a- D
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, * @ U0 D- V) B z9 v45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ e) A ~$ c* V! {
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is ' [3 s# U) I efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. J' ]" [9 m$ j) d7 S8 F
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are 3 k2 L% m% B( c% ^1 D5 N/ v/ o/ F1 Zmedical schools. ' N: @ E d$ m3 ? . d3 l8 L9 T8 h. m0 oEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the ' O( n6 e1 j: k5 U; `! bgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ o$ w- R% V% p- {: a$ j4 X# B- ?
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years O# ?7 T" j: J9 T' h" {9 o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba + r; O; N) z# Q& ]9 ~% Q; F$ Q% ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to ) l3 I% S: E$ c& S2 O/ oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There : o* G# E# u. A: W- }$ Rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and . }- W" x1 \1 ?0 b0 v! r" y Jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk # ^5 H% e* h; B5 w5 g7 \6 wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some 2 ^( d) Q' i6 Q# Gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 e/ d% R9 |" ~. u6 z* X' w
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no 2 r, E9 h$ b+ k$ D+ G6 B$ ~private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and : p: c% |7 h3 R8 f. Osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people " X- A E5 J9 B- |! y, B, w# xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 W# v, _' J T* P8 L5 T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby . @3 H! K* M% E) N A- jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high " }: j7 L$ [+ [divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. " k: \. q' B! g, g# E/ RDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When t5 Q) |9 V7 Y1 K. U6 L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only 7 f- p( b# e. Gcharge the fee defined by the state.. ^2 W n. H: j1 D
+ o% K. Z0 Y: b" w: @) xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get / @! X: ~: b1 b @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: U7 ?; `! C/ ~( \8 o Y) N Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big . { O P) N! f! ]/ B' i: Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) E- J# Q3 ^5 X6 d1 Z) \4 M' B0 c" j; H- @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the . M B' s2 B$ g& aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on 0 ~' V, t* a7 f' k: `schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if " L% ]- Q* k: m* [% lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. h2 s2 M" ]! C+ C# E/ v& j3 V' W
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% u5 N8 A6 F" u: e* ?$ N6 @* q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that & n$ K9 i" F2 N% ^- kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want 8 L0 h3 q1 e& l6 x+ T: O; @to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) M6 Q, B5 N1 }3 i0 M: s$ \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 y* c X8 ^- S
are spaces. + \1 g, {8 |& v5 g 4 c1 z. @3 l' lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* }; k( \- _9 {1 r0 z; y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 \) z: h/ `+ G1 X% Y, B7 X4 {
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the 4 h4 I* w. U& h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! `* V7 y, y: b* j4 }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the 5 E/ c: i2 I" nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ c6 S. ?( D8 i# K6 z3 D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! h: S) P) g* M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it 0 [2 x+ w' b- {2 s- A1 O- M, bis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. 9 a7 }/ w" Y N B* u6 `$ t& n& 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 " L8 a& C9 F+ R4 {) r4 Nspots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all 1 e9 c* B9 ]+ F1 s0 P2 vthe nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very: r1 n- W6 p& A$ Z
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep& e0 A: d; U+ s7 |" }
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day $ G& X' h# A/ [2 F& Isupplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of $ n4 o+ N% G7 m6 Othem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms - h2 `7 h% k/ |* Ihave no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the" ` A* P, K' a' _0 q. g/ e
tourist area.' e, m5 \; K2 u' Z6 H
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One thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's 6 b; p& H8 t2 bpictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). , n8 Y- q# O6 R9 YCompared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were 7 d4 ?- a6 q) d4 y8 veverywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps 9 S2 D* ?8 P# U' z# S; }+ o# d. |2 yless leader-religious.' I: a" b$ ?. C4 T K% D; B
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About 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba! K0 `1 Y% v \+ [- k* N+ i0 O
government slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big' X6 R$ Q/ h! E3 g7 A6 e) X+ e
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US! T! y1 z+ @+ \$ l7 i5 C# x
embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture). ( A4 p9 i, J4 x) D1 j$ q8 X# `( d6 M; [! g" o2 F. V
We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the% Y0 Y3 W4 W9 O6 e
parts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not$ z' ?0 f N, K2 z
the normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1( F5 i+ }3 @6 y% g* k5 X& c' u5 x
convertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for 8 M, b) K, a0 k$ P% Jforeigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars * |/ C# p1 k( H$ I(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we) L# q7 V8 Z g4 K& S2 l
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the 4 [* ~9 Y7 U. d! U/ i! Nreal Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. ' x, ~; v3 C8 y7 n: {And it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local : u, v% {1 [4 n6 J1 H, {7 Sor visitors. 2 q8 U4 {( j3 K2 c ' ~' {- _3 z. I5 @) N3 Q$ y7 R-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
