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
% V- K7 \( H( P& W$ pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& j. P7 G4 n( E& x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, a2 m" d, _1 a" \: w) ~' Y2 v' O9 n; Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, A [! c) |* d) j, K$ I
answers to our pointed questions.
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2 N1 @. M* L' X) }The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; W( ]+ E5 ~% `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# p" w8 A5 |5 A0 p$ T9 \5 `
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 @6 J1 o$ Z! e; Z& D8 d) kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" d! B# v& @8 ]2 o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ f7 W/ m- J- g2 U$ m1 `) }medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' n" l Q, I; d4 Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! X* f' u7 ?2 v. g* S8 _
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 W, p2 l% e4 z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ F% t, q0 V7 V1 V- qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, `: q+ @5 d4 R7 M1 l& x- s9 Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 }3 `- h) i4 m2 p
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: N7 P+ }7 |) _( U1 F* ~mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
`' g3 f& e. ^ Mshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ j4 D* K" F+ X+ q1 g0 e x( usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." e! Q$ b) J6 S: d
$ g0 A* K o: e: lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 v/ z/ G1 r' y+ D- h* W# m2 Wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 Y. e$ _/ I7 O( d6 W8 q1 m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 f8 E! _% n w! @ w, [2 Jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, w! A2 Y' a- h% U ]1 J1 N1 g/ t$ v: `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 X- c* X) h% ~
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ O* b4 H2 M7 ^8 T
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 ~3 { v( I7 \2 v- m2 k7 R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" T# q# E, y! ^7 g% r
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( ^/ Y& Y* J# ~1 c0 e3 y' |2 b6 E3 U' gcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get s) o+ H5 Y% g, X7 c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" g9 w3 M! i/ u( ~# f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% x7 J) i- x1 N5 r2 x- R# V0 `
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 c: e- E" p/ O9 ]$ T5 p, n+ w1 tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! @) P$ S2 J4 vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( \% A# L; o8 m( nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ k! w% ~9 p- m& Q( t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
5 F& j3 a0 t: Q2 U L) G1 Utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, q2 p3 e; p$ j9 Z* N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 _6 V* ^( F) [; v3 l' j) `9 P0 }people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 @( c! b' a x4 k8 \9 S( B$ ?0 sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* w* k2 U, K+ w% \, E+ Qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there- ?6 l9 `4 z4 p
are spaces.
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- p: u6 S: Z- ^There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" V5 l' a# R5 s( T* H' Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% F& I0 v) z9 m- Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ ^9 _, E8 Q6 A. R7 y2 B40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) ]) U& S* x- i9 o0 ^& v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# J6 z/ Z, r: R9 x9 o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% T7 c( ]- }+ {' h9 U
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) f8 B7 ~) @- ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 h4 `! I2 e6 Y9 J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' p( Q2 y# U' X5 V We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
