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
! h r$ S" B3 ]5 T- O& A- Bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 o7 X; m% ~# p4 ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 u0 R- Q Q+ _% `& P1 u9 T: O"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 i3 \* R9 b l8 [* y
answers to our pointed questions." Z7 {. u$ p1 S) E) i2 g7 C
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& M5 U0 ~2 t- }, }
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" v- {, W' p* F6 oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" y+ w- v/ A7 ^/ {free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" ~3 N c$ S3 @1 w$ T2 L' Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ G! V1 C+ |$ n0 V. Q/ [! Qmedical schools.
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5 w/ k! k7 L) v( z8 b9 v: REvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ p8 J- O4 G w
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 c$ S- |! F7 y& [! {* Gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. \9 Q& }5 X# V4 N' n' I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 r6 R1 ` I# F& O! G. B; A5 s3 }! Iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% \) E! {& x6 K, G$ jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 c; n7 e% ^8 y. _3 Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) [: y+ R! I1 \: O3 y# ~. H% A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' n w# r' i% ~! M+ X3 H6 k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some: E' f$ z5 w$ S& `: B* ~$ C
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 k: H8 o9 z' _' I* {The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( M$ k( `- j3 p; j6 Dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. U2 J: @( g1 |) {6 ]
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 v% x' O) q: z' U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' m+ s: [) @: U( j) t/ W7 \( sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: N& z C- a" p! d
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 l) G# }% Q( K, gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& O5 A7 p X5 ]4 L& z( FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" R+ v) q5 M2 i9 a$ V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& d4 v4 n6 b v7 P v2 Kcharge the fee defined by the state.; _& {6 Y4 f& y2 C
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 d [8 }) x& ^3 b8 `/ s6 Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" p# p& t C. Y% I8 ?
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: l/ A5 n% M$ }* U8 g* L4 {9 [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& B5 g1 r* {% ^8 f
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 W, N+ H. ~" i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& }5 j* N) z* {3 H
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' L* D4 t" c- G+ p# U$ ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) S7 x, O) C- p0 Z w5 G# xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' r2 U3 f1 Q8 q+ {! O( q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! S5 n' x, l$ _8 ^+ |
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" M- s0 |! i Wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( c8 ~3 } Q8 t) \' x/ ~& c( v/ cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ w' h: e U& Z$ h/ R
are spaces.. G/ i( g$ {/ _( Z% h* y
# Y$ |& w: U+ z7 nThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, g0 R* A: s* Z) Kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 r% ]" ]) S d, ? V: A' D2 S% c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& d6 E! o! \, x$ m* g4 F
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% v1 y" @0 T J$ J3 O6 ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! X/ R1 I- p& J$ F0 P: y8 hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 [1 D9 s$ m+ v. \8 A) v% C& h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
. k. @ I9 W2 q% Acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& ^: R) B; q3 E7 `& f- ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 i0 T; E* h# t5 D! n
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
