我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 v" r9 `3 x! h5 F
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ b; V7 I& t8 I0 Z% fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* D8 K, U; W: x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# e; M8 v% t: |" @9 q6 H, y# Panswers to our pointed questions.
# k2 J% S; B* W/ q9 N9 r. C6 \( X. c% A
( j$ M1 |, I5 x2 jThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: [( `0 G7 Y8 C" i' `+ |! |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 r' |4 ?/ W9 C' Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( y& Y% @. m, v4 p8 ?1 K
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ ]; a$ D" L- l* Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& o" L" F0 s/ _: Vmedical schools.
& I4 h0 W/ k5 V- _6 E
8 |+ z' G3 x$ _4 M: A7 ?Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 j/ l$ w& d8 r |" {government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. A; ^3 B7 s3 H: g" z z. h
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ r) C: L# Y4 O: g' j
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ Z( P) X& w. T2 y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- H0 s; Z( K# u6 W' w* ]0 e8 |$ R
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! p) r" m2 |4 u* z3 R: F& f i) x
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 r s) U" \7 W8 e& y/ M$ H) M+ Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! W" X8 @2 [$ L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* |4 ?$ x3 g9 x6 F( h8 K8 asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; O# M$ s6 G' J
8 D# o7 w% [$ ~) C
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 C: p& i [. u Z. G |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 ]& U3 @8 j) D
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 \1 L/ R, D! n S1 j6 u* b; Y, nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 z; w/ m4 ]7 h0 b% C; m& J
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 o. [, X, _8 ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
: }+ v& g% j- Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! G; _& x% P; v2 [( k
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When3 g# s3 h/ S; ?- N. _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 I/ |! w6 J3 |. y& kcharge the fee defined by the state.
7 {2 R* F& P3 L* x, D/ u8 N
; D3 s( I2 F5 t* d& c( \/ _, ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 r+ O2 Z+ y/ M1 a# ~on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 z! n; O4 W( K0 S2 a9 q- A' N
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 {! w1 y u( K: v) u+ ?% a$ \* ?3 xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 d; L: o% q( s' W/ D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 v5 ^3 I8 Q2 V: u2 o! m
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 I( y0 l/ K/ O6 Q! N* Q( X/ k; Qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. l$ ~7 w6 R- Y- b4 i* R) d0 n; o
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 W) s" h1 ]/ atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' p6 ~: `) ~' [7 `; p$ M# i; k
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* E, e3 e3 m3 M3 C8 t, r9 C; H3 npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 N7 `, f) y" C& qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. i# y3 w+ H0 |+ G$ _7 N0 @5 xbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 z5 `! w" `5 W$ ]" N8 h3 h
are spaces./ b& c8 `% k& u+ Q
. b/ p0 g5 G6 nThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 k; {# a* n% s2 W3 b6 v' C2 [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ h# S& V4 c5 p& O0 aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 D& q3 u- x2 a* r m
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. L1 H( U" ]: B4 w. Z* R( eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& c2 q5 v/ L E: ]0 N4 Y, l2 Y% b
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 r* y4 ?% i8 N" {# w0 s4 D2 ?: p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: ?+ f6 O. b4 Q# S0 M1 n, b$ p
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it8 w& o4 }" @" W, Z+ Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 x, A& v) l; q- c5 u9 S4 g- A) Q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
