We didn't expect our all-inclusive vacation in Varadero, Cuba to be very" J, W5 c2 E0 u9 _$ ~& r/ T' F
interesting, but we never had a sunshine vacation before and also we ' p" s2 r; L% G& g; y2 b/ ?. rwanted to see and learn a bit about Cuba, if possible.6 @, \3 K) w, y' i" u- ?7 U
& A8 R- ~8 A4 B2 a. ]5 yIt was a mixed bag of people on our plane and in the resort: 20% young, ' P1 \3 R& J2 b% H7 G( k30% old, and 50% in between, also quite a few single men. People are in 9 E7 d% g3 r( w* U6 F0 s* J, Q9 Ka very different mode in the resort, lots of them dress as little as / X- y2 ?7 ^% j' B: Q6 \4 d$ v! b+ Hpossible and drink as much as they can, stay up very late (resort 8 y3 E: B7 ~1 `, w- @! R) Tshow/dance music is very loud and runs into 1am daily), and sleep " K) p9 Q, Z% O$ Zbetween the meals on the beach, beside the swimming pool, and in the3 @$ Y7 A: a: C7 s6 U# a- E
lobby. The resort lobby is really used as a family/living room for all, : u7 l1 ^$ [* w" R9 F6 d7 \1 S. o fwith people doing all sorts of things and nothing is too strange there. 0 B* ~6 X7 l) `% {9 U0 i People on vacation are even more friendly then they are in Canada, but) b# B6 {% J$ }
names (especially the last name) seems to be one thing that not + h& f) k" w, dexchanged much. It is interesting to see people change color in our 1 O6 m9 w7 S2 Uflight at the beginning and at the end of our trip, like peanuts through 9 m2 K: v8 M5 j: O) S' K( Ta roast oven - white before and roasted afterwards./ H" ?: v1 H* S) }/ j8 R o
9 v* u! `, W* \ B2 A
The weather was beautiful during our stay: mid to high 20s in the day, % u8 L) r" c/ _: I9 V; Ilow 20s in the night. We did sea kayak, swam in the ocean and the pool 6 }. V6 C' V/ Z- d/ s5 t/ N(when it was too windy), went to town by bike, and saw the island on top- W/ l( S$ A5 s$ v! o! V# |
of the hop-on/off double-decker bus, walked along the beach, watched the j+ ^, Z3 o9 A8 [5 v! Z+ A+ Pstars (note the sky at 23 degree latitude looks quite different from 7 E# K1 F" W) k49), played ping-pong everyday after lunch. Em even tried 20 minutes3 q2 x, |( U9 H! z$ d5 l
Cuba neck-back massage that felt like intensive cha-cha dancing with% B7 z/ |! x* \* Z9 a
fingers, palms and fists; very different from what we have in Canada. `6 [5 Z: |0 ~6 W7 X% l
7 F! ^9 Z/ G, HThe resort staff are mostly very good, some do so for tips, but some are . E: Z$ h2 L: i& b; u+ b$ sjust very nice, like our room maid (see the pictures of the bed she made ! Z" a1 S" [% Cfor us). The resort looks to be owned by the government, as Cuba0 P: `# |, g& l
tourist industry and most other things in general. Watching them having# D8 B2 Q0 b3 o, b, }, f
a staff meeting with the Cuba flag up, made Em think about China ! ~6 b$ y3 Y3 K( u2 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; F: u4 Y7 z( z# x* T
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 F" o( _: q3 i$ \8 m6 c
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, , Y+ \( h- b+ R9 R v; j. M"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give # N/ L) w! P: B, D8 _9 M) Sanswers to our pointed questions.; T+ a5 m8 \+ u+ [+ N& t) c6 Y$ ~
/ t4 j2 G4 j# ]1 CThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 f1 T8 p M* }, L c
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; H, j# S/ N+ \- \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is 3 B6 [: e5 j; }1 mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams * d# ?+ |2 p) y( v0 kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are " o: C" T. d1 h1 Qmedical schools., y3 s0 C# ]" Z$ w/ F
# |9 C3 @- o4 t9 d4 x0 K4 m
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the w" M7 d5 z- f' G+ K( Y* h6 t9 |& e
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. h, u5 X/ L* {1 b: i2 [$ A3 r: \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years 2 \% k' ~- S& T! ~' z: Rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, b" ^' Y: P5 c, V
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to 8 ^) o; B$ s) q, i8 _! dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There ) x4 H! J+ i, v- p9 P' k* m0 hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and * F9 y+ J( ?8 E5 q1 N; hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ q6 i: Q2 b2 y" J' {% v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some: }9 E& i* c S* `& r6 u8 d" k2 ^6 P; Z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. % W" A. {) \+ V+ W6 n8 P& z: A- n! ^, b3 T- u0 w; `
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no + h0 p( z, s ?' W; iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' d0 w6 q9 [( G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people - i$ b) C, y5 G7 Z5 K! C8 Qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% ` R& b) r$ k
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby $ z% P6 o( B, Y5 T6 P& psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high 1 ~0 |7 q o h0 i6 n0 B2 X N& cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., H9 w5 s e& Q: i N' c2 g, {
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 J; v/ H4 \4 T0 X( ]' X3 a3 w D5 ?2 B
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only $ e) ^/ T5 j& `! v: V9 C# ?charge the fee defined by the state. 2 l& w# @5 b, X' f: j! _9 w( H: O' b: G2 O* f# p4 W
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ( g% q" c) Y7 d$ x2 P1 Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type ; l! P Q) W4 wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big) T0 |, C4 ^/ r z" ~
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 y, H6 x+ Q4 {6 ]' T h) \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 U: |- Y2 N6 D9 [# M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ _' Z( _0 N9 B
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ) z& P+ D! X$ P9 b) myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people 8 N4 x( Y) S# Q2 \, utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# r7 e) Y9 v w" f6 N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! M2 U1 {& j1 x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 r+ q& o3 q! L, P0 E X
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 z4 o9 c, E$ W5 L1 v: z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' n3 `' X& a9 _ y3 N8 L
are spaces. ) u& q/ T* x% z+ m ; J# j- v6 ]8 ~: ^& W, a. NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( {7 t, ~: K# j, X! L. U) ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they 1 ~6 h/ G5 i! T2 w1 [5 m" q3 a0 }1 eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- o8 K5 l c5 r
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different 7 R+ v6 y" k% G7 B- Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 p4 ^9 e8 o* X+ L) A3 r
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! S7 B7 {/ t: \
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of _; m8 X1 q" ?" g% |- ~4 B/ H' N, ]" N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 n3 ]: B8 W% Y2 J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., ?) ?5 Q- E: f& R9 H$ [5 X9 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 ( J$ ~& w2 q: k- t# @5 }spots. But in general, it is quite run down. We felt very sorry for all% b- }6 P2 j; y* s
the nice colonial style buildings near the ocean front. With very5 H4 H L7 o& q( H D
limited resources, especially still recovering from early 90's deep3 f; J) O7 f$ H: G u- `; r) e
recession after Soviet Union collapse (Cuba lost its $30 million per day : |1 x$ S/ j, p$ W) e5 m4 Q% ^supplement), little has been done to maintain/restore them, and some of # L8 R0 ]& ?( f& X$ Ythem are already gone. Shops have very limited goods, public bathrooms/ b- p1 l; F# _) d2 v' q7 z8 a; y% X4 }
have no running water (and you pay for paper of course), even in the h1 I; b% q' M; r4 H7 y
tourist area. # a$ B: s) I) h! _+ Q5 l3 c # I5 I$ S( R: B# R4 [! Y2 NOne thing quite interesting is that we couldn't find much of Castro's * d7 {1 }/ d) Z5 g$ c5 _pictures or statues in Havana at all (although lots of Che Guevara). ( Z; {8 N% }9 |( n7 M( n# }Compared to China in 60s and 70s, Mao's pictures and statues were1 s0 O |4 Q3 w8 u8 [" p
everywhere. So although Cuba is very poor, it seems more open and perhaps ' p! z. [ B) e1 ]
less leader-religious.7 h2 J% E& j+ U
3 t8 `) ~6 D: Z3 X1 TAbout 6 months ago, the old US embassy building put up some anti-Cuba * Y: i+ r2 ]; Rgovernment slogans in their top floor window. Cuba then put up 138 big) `6 J w! }3 ?
black flags in front of the embassy to block them. As the result, US - ]! U! w' B( Z( ]embassy lost their nice ocean view (see picture).% x% b7 M6 R. s/ q
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We did have a nice vacation and felt very relaxed. But we only saw the 6 f3 w) Q8 S- W8 y, }7 Dparts of Cuba as what we could, even the money we used in Cuba is not ; q+ S8 g/ j3 y& G- ethe normal Cuba Peso used by Cubans, but a convertible Peso ((like 外汇卷 in China before) $1 9 R9 U0 r, O; c+ ^( [* k6 r# Jconvertible Peso = $24 Cuba Peso = $1.3 CAD = $1.25 US), and things for: C3 q( _3 a4 }* b8 A0 V
foreigners are in similar price as in Canada, except Rum and Cigars+ a) L) M/ c* j) y
(less than half). If we could speak Spanish and could stay longer, we9 s. S( m6 f) P7 U. U6 @
probably could wander around and talk to locals to know more about the% Q* `0 ~* W$ M* T* y s# P
real Cuba, as ordinary people here seem friendly and very easy going. . P7 |3 s" J2 l# NAnd it seems the tropical weather can really make people happier, local: {9 \- e+ r0 n2 \6 j7 S8 v
or visitors.6 a: F. M5 g# N
$ D! l$ a9 [6 z: m+ ?7 e
-- The End -- 作者: sinclair 时间: 2011-1-26 12:02 标题: zt from wenxuecity blogs
