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
8 `- ^, [' Q6 _standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; I/ s+ A$ p) T- r; i1 b5 c& a
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 M! a& T$ O5 c& h+ R
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! s: k% W8 z2 n# @& F0 Z" i3 H
answers to our pointed questions." H- @% ]( j3 c% v# b( L! [
* d" Z% F e% a1 N2 F5 ~The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 j( k$ D! ~! [ _6 o; x45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* I% I1 R! H: u8 s5 v$ B
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 ^- e* Z2 E' b9 D9 O
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- [1 w- G8 X1 h& l0 X7 o7 h9 Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: O- W& F7 p/ l% jmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* E6 u$ g) M0 L. W
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! {+ N7 Q. S8 P, _5 c& \+ v) [
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& N+ @6 |# v1 T+ [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& ?9 H" M }7 c- F7 e0 A
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) r; j% H3 |0 \2 X6 fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 n4 T! f6 l( a8 b5 \
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% C/ F1 `. z8 g% l) p, _4 q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 L. `; j& k: t6 Y2 q I4 q$ yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 u" e' f, Q% e6 O; qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 b0 w' ]+ O) p& G6 e( e
; M. d: g; ~( _& w5 pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ P; c- Y: v+ M5 W* K4 G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 `: h% m. K. i! d2 P$ jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 t! U2 f6 e+ S% [) ]7 K$ {/ jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ n( k" P9 V. |7 u# Z* uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 z6 f- F! M9 v. r7 C F( ?. s) msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 T6 R! W9 ?0 Z5 L3 V; h C7 S4 Sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( z) v' `" g' i& A6 d4 }2 CDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& i0 z& l l2 i' W' V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 T# f% @7 N$ I& }
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 }& K+ y. d) P) |+ u: q9 c/ P
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' K0 H1 t* [ m) _5 }. e' ~% m& Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" m7 ]/ Q& \9 m$ M4 [. Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 L% J" E, b' ]$ r+ A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: d1 e3 X- W! i# Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: V7 f$ Y& v( @6 ^* j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, n5 w+ _: O) P+ x- q1 x, T
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 |. S; j$ u8 X3 ?+ G. B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! T \: T' e7 N% o" d; n
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& j- ^! O* Q+ Q: h
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 Q7 \# x0 U/ E* k& J" J( _2 Lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% g; K6 Z' @1 a# ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 S$ a! f M' C( f7 M9 }8 A! ~+ D
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 T8 u2 p7 S. c5 \to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 K2 b l# T" ?" f/ s2 R8 @
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 J, b9 F. A9 ?9 o/ p
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! n! k- d/ U/ I, l8 R# m8 q* m s3 _parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 O* w- C4 |: V2 a
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% e# d3 C$ d5 d2 s
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 ?. V# _6 f- S5 l8 f) @! _1 Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* B; j& ^& p' X3 w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! E6 r8 M" h7 w. ]8 k5 a) b' Z( h We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
