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
n1 B% ? `# a; J6 l3 Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: T2 o( @; Z2 Y& w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
* L7 O) x; P q q" ~4 _"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 {5 J9 E8 r1 F* j W" `answers to our pointed questions.
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+ A1 r/ y* Z' aThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 w+ r1 o# I1 ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' D8 t9 q0 R( P% k8 D6 _. E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is u N( ~8 F2 ]& M
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: U8 m% Q) Y3 Y2 H9 ~% h
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( g/ |; u1 `; m5 G0 Q: O6 R0 jmedical schools.# t6 p' [; F* p* I! ^: M
5 G3 p6 l: T/ T% M& jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; K3 u3 O' W2 z: A0 I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 |4 m' S7 N6 q$ c, wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* I1 w' q* _. j
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ U& |& x: s' z3 \# O- c
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
J: F6 P/ x8 w0 H( ~* uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 ~- h2 h2 Y( q0 Z) Y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& ?; [5 p( y! h( y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
- G& D$ y: E5 X6 [shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( w; g) y I u+ B5 Y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. y& V3 {& b) x3 m; Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 v# A% A" K8 |# M8 t) Q% `0 r
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: A* r+ H# v5 U0 E% ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
9 I7 A1 ^; a5 b2 q% K- @' m5 Jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 L7 c+ s; H! d! V+ Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% {4 R# K/ A8 X* _* O" S
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# M' E2 D2 b- T7 `& h6 U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" G4 @6 I$ W; h0 Z( K
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' j, K! W9 U* n0 B6 w. c) a: B
charge the fee defined by the state. T: _% O/ {0 i
) S# S& B3 T7 T) g$ n: V9 v, [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) Y3 z( x2 n0 O; r
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! x* j( A* B, y1 O8 F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: D b1 p {, j( ktruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 P$ t1 }4 q2 v; r8 t4 zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% x4 \* `: O( y% \% |- z8 Iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 S& y2 C4 r- q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" {& `, h. S; f1 ? kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 b" u- I6 s; b
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 N# v) o( B- I- V( S
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 P! b) L" x. _5 v* |0 m7 F) T9 J
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, Z, ]( [9 V6 l# ?" s% s8 ?: W2 p$ Uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* w5 v# G( C+ e8 @1 A$ P
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 q8 I0 F, i _* iare spaces.
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' Y8 r) e9 v7 F! q! q4 a# g5 pThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 Q2 a0 J4 y# m8 p+ S% t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ V- M$ s, t) b! X! U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 l7 W3 z% s) b2 ?! x1 g
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% j: |4 ^( ]3 L/ d- f
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 |4 D: _( d/ ]best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" e% J8 q; Y$ E1 D% C0 D2 o+ u
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
G) b8 Z- u6 h5 G+ qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 e: B3 K, H7 R( @9 d" p) B$ i: \; |is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) C: U% d: M* Q- Z. b c# y6 A We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
