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+ L w3 L$ E$ h: H% y$ b+ M
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! f" V. e1 c! K6 o- l' j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 `, T6 F/ B5 j* I
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 G1 _6 }2 T1 P j6 Y- xanswers to our pointed questions.! e' t- s4 M3 r& Y3 F4 H' |
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 }. w$ Q; h( o) F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* z9 y, l, b2 Dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& J+ g6 @3 A$ f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% }+ \0 |# k; t3 n- Hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( O8 N6 V# A4 t# o/ rmedical schools.
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* e9 D! h' a$ @' S( p4 PEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ L9 E$ x4 K, e |& N, o$ D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 z3 Q& Q! p* u6 ?
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
! \9 U5 p, [4 y! cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' S {# Y b, M4 c, p& H
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. a+ W) J0 R% X/ M6 U/ eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! l" O4 l: {) q1 ]0 _# tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 T D8 X9 S& X% K* a/ gmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 T- q' B- L+ p3 ^2 S% Vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some- Q, z. o5 y9 c2 Z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# M3 ^& E- y+ V, U0 n" M- ^
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% w" v# @8 \3 `1 Z& }2 Z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 ^; t4 n* T4 ~: u- p# F, e
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 m4 L* a g- Z, w' Q! yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 `. ^, o" `6 F! G9 |5 xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" u* M" T `( A; h/ t7 tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 k( F0 h4 \7 j- j3 b" H1 ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 F& w" X( e2 a! k: q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; s9 l9 y6 O8 n0 M% \8 f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; K* s6 _1 B8 [- o& W
charge the fee defined by the state.0 H( b3 Z8 f4 F% b" _$ |* I
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. Y/ [ F" q2 H d7 M2 Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* Z' g+ e! w+ [& y6 x
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 [% x, y8 e1 T+ C2 }& [' ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 y+ t7 V- ~# I- N# @# h; H! ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! ^6 [0 C F* C/ L' P; K" Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 [* k% k6 V0 w) K1 ~
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 }; [- ?- v! n& C: f. iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" s5 X0 J X7 }# \
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' V, @( U& ~/ X" W" ^
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ |) ~' u% Q' D# @# X d9 O, U7 i; h
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, Y5 i% I# D# q; I+ K3 zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 Y8 e, B" ~' O" I% U( I: Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ E, _. V' F/ I9 z5 _5 J
are spaces.
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" e7 x: v; F- M2 IThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 Q3 a& d- b- ]* d
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 _ b- ~5 L. a" b0 ^! w
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 C! u* g# R" B/ g6 I( B" m) Y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! D' J1 G. g0 R5 @+ E+ |
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ m8 E8 ~- v. t
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- t3 \3 B5 o" c+ w# v" _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) M$ G. |5 F8 a: R
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 L) y! d" H2 P( e, [
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. h, x, _- }* X( D5 m. W+ @
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
