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' _/ c4 B! O# D: k. x' N! v: ~1 K
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ j. G" q3 c ` N
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, H& V( z, K- N8 z/ v% W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" q0 q* o; J2 R3 L) \- b; W! ^
answers to our pointed questions.3 X0 Z g1 ~# x. U$ r2 y- \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* f2 C5 ]$ j9 m9 y2 d5 |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 @9 x# v2 c8 [2 `4 v& x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 Y- h) w h( H- C8 O" u, L- U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 {# k/ x9 f- r- sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 U1 d3 l& V: c$ H7 Y4 U
medical schools.! M2 K, D, H8 G
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* L" q' F/ {9 ~government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# U5 b' S, m3 K* l4 Q4 Q3 O
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: }) I6 S c) \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; O$ ^6 H4 Q* ~( A) Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 \% T/ M, @# g$ @1 L4 ?0 R
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
) A' q+ }+ v, ~9 X; Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( s* N7 Q Q, kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) C' g# A1 e' W4 \shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 J* ?- M* H* P% E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ x# |1 `5 q+ W; [- m9 J
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, j& X) T. W: d6 J- R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
[* h( a& D% X; Psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. y& k* C- T0 Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- X$ ?* U5 a& _; hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) h4 y0 L) J4 k6 J/ K# x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' k. j0 l! ?% U b/ C- N2 G: Vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 J1 w+ y! f: s- ^% J1 ~5 j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" c+ R4 O, O. Q3 H1 Y7 s; H
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 V; }! A9 |8 ^/ H; Fcharge the fee defined by the state.
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# R2 Y. z. v; h E8 ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 r0 K0 R7 ?# a; z# [& ?on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: ]0 u* h6 _. S8 s8 D d0 Tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big, j3 u4 e2 e! N t3 x/ ^
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" z0 O& J, V% Dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- ?4 p2 J! @) p- y3 xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! ~8 Z& d3 ?. x
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% K2 N1 C- N" j. D" f/ `8 ]$ d% cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people j0 O( ~/ Q/ _5 B( w1 w2 ]
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% n! k X H4 p+ s5 }2 r6 x/ d! Mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# C! C6 z+ r+ H
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 l% i9 o: f! ~/ E8 n, C# u2 G( Gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! r0 p) K" C7 G& r# S: y8 C
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, C: O% D: y2 L
are spaces.: @) V" D: N: E7 d$ T
' o/ W6 h; |' s; t4 DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ I9 }/ d5 C4 J3 }/ X" r @
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 k. \9 k& N2 F
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, r4 a2 o1 F3 {0 d. C x; ~! d7 M M' ?
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* j$ p: [1 e/ W. I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 t: C; t( ?5 z M9 b) A1 z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 S6 n+ q0 \7 M- ~1 g
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 M5 y, O; y n& Pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 [9 E! z3 A1 \8 k$ _; his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. c2 C1 j4 o7 K2 i6 j! i
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
