我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 O7 O& Z0 q* V+ n/ f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 G& R K3 a1 K' F; v9 z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! v" z" b' U1 i9 e/ ]* t# ]/ Z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 L' M) s1 ^; z/ z& u& F8 L5 F
answers to our pointed questions./ ~& o! W% j) r/ ?. ~ j! l
- g5 _4 m# P- ?" ^& N& J- [The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 Y8 E0 ^4 D# d8 u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 ~2 S5 D/ ]9 Q. Y A
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ X% W1 E+ I- U! c6 lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; a" Z* j [3 y, o, s. E$ K
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 I: P. Q/ L/ ~) L/ ~, l+ C
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- ? _' r) S' y4 @! m2 x. V5 \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 A) f7 p# N' Q2 R2 ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 [! s& D N0 u7 L0 V+ tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% w7 O/ i! } m P" P
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" m/ @. m d* s- h, Oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ D& v: [0 d' V2 A/ E5 X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. l) f/ S8 D3 O" c* U" g
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 I! t% ~, I" w7 }
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 ?0 c7 v" G8 H) W8 |) \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 {) _, e0 Y& b; @" XThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no: K( i7 ^+ ^% v v! s* F: _
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" P. y) ~. p, t, d5 q$ f' i6 O
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* I7 L: R% h& y( b) mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good; Y: S1 P& T0 u: k
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* N1 i5 s" a7 g+ s6 u/ Q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 \. Q) e0 z g8 g9 R4 Mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. V: _7 `3 ^/ {4 jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) j' |8 _, f$ Y$ p5 Y0 W0 V% n
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 A8 g, u6 j" Z7 F- R# echarge the fee defined by the state.+ ?; n& c x- g
; \9 F$ H- q3 ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 p- l7 ?: A- O- J7 ?) x' r9 K6 [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ N. Z1 \2 a. O$ c L& M* p* r$ hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* L6 @0 @. J1 @5 N3 P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( ?: Z& Q M A7 z9 F+ ?/ K
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 m4 o: r1 z# \. N+ J# fworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: y3 Q7 V ~! y8 l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 A% J; S+ `- C9 G/ c$ }$ a3 E9 U- Jyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: Y$ x# R# w& A8 W$ d
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* g- i. }% P* E4 [$ z# h. |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ A" w1 g* ~/ z8 W0 @/ V2 w+ Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! H& }0 G5 K0 b: g: D- Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: z7 c+ R; B( o- ~* ?buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; i: H+ R H( }+ n
are spaces.$ O) F. n1 D9 }5 v' j% }' G
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& m) Q& W7 n! I. i- j9 c2 L4 P
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 s4 B! ~- h i: k0 G1 u; \3 c! nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; F0 K9 [# M% n: E# n+ ^
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 C! L4 J% i, \* o: ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 ]/ j0 P+ r: @5 t' m2 o, t
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ C4 G& O0 U* t$ b3 A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* z+ P6 |/ F5 ?# d6 Q6 Y' L/ b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ R- F& Z4 X9 e" a/ r! i7 jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 O7 }' _% G$ F$ h
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
