我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 N K0 c5 k' ]% y1 @, y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ b9 T, a1 F3 T6 m/ E" zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 _+ l( H7 y; @1 E( a$ f5 }( y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ e4 L ~* d5 L8 L6 s% H9 Ianswers to our pointed questions.. u% t. Y. z* c
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' d. i& R# J) C" b0 ^: v
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; L) S9 D9 ]8 t: M+ [! aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 |7 K2 t5 m6 efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 n% M( i9 g7 t3 t t; Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 k3 r- Y) F/ K# {. rmedical schools.: K" y: B) g( J; M
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* ]. j- G0 ^! N* n% l6 Z) P. ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! w. Y' q' b) U1 c9 x1 T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, c- ^/ J1 _8 s: \, [: Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ x6 Z& d! ?3 M8 }, L2 H8 C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. y9 q! u1 ^( q/ N. |% A
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ ^2 i8 ~3 O7 v& X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ C' `* s$ p0 p6 x, u6 }0 `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 m l* v8 r6 I/ q M, t, y3 U s9 M! lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 w' H9 B4 i+ Q2 l1 J# ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; `( w4 U2 v! M- |/ o3 y2 T
% ]' w$ R' W+ F! ^4 @/ I: nThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 [7 f& }" [+ }# y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and e1 v/ ~$ ^2 T. H; y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 ?" N7 B0 i" {: f* E
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 K8 v6 y* m8 ?5 |! t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" r$ L! r8 y0 v# m4 P, \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 M( ^' E- D. ]6 Pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* M+ G) q; f4 v+ d6 C1 o1 h1 q uDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 Q. H- Y3 a2 I) i( @8 F
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% i3 p$ t3 A; W; U8 D% \charge the fee defined by the state.# H& g- i8 N, e3 }
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 S: Q2 T) ^+ z( B
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ d0 K# @/ [. o3 o1 X1 ?4 P, Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 B& U8 h, W! v- e/ T K" k
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 S! H2 w$ b4 q- a+ P2 Sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. E0 h/ p; @ q! U9 @1 d/ b' Z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! \" y/ \( ~- f0 [5 `7 _. kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 E+ H1 I% ~6 {: G
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, X2 x2 d# l* W5 h* S$ O4 g8 @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 R+ A& C$ a- _- ^/ v6 |2 }, Ghiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 X& ^' o7 W2 s# t# ]people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) a, I( q( @/ d# kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 M# \: W0 E! q w2 c8 S/ V
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
" n9 K7 E! j: U$ ~ f4 M; Dare spaces.
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% V) U; X& ?) j/ {There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! J: D- M8 L1 O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; P5 `5 A! B5 S y1 {4 I( l
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 O6 b* g, Q; b40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 x" R& D' l, F5 x# r4 Uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 R+ d( N4 q$ \0 v' a- k8 u, n- fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; Y3 N* V$ s0 W& _+ z, Fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* i7 ]8 M! ?# r" H b" Z- ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
4 m& y7 }. L# F" gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
S' B! s/ U; l( ^0 G+ I We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
