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% g7 U- D' m/ |6 P
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 |0 J+ o1 ?4 X6 Y8 @# a: W0 von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ c5 E4 g, d8 d; @. X) Z& u6 n: I4 U- a$ ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 `) H7 |. l& F
answers to our pointed questions.7 Q, a. Q5 X6 a6 v' Q
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) v; j5 E* g) ?/ I7 E2 @" |" k
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 q' f! E+ N9 H$ Q+ a, b3 Z+ C: Lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! U6 g2 z9 u2 B; b+ z @5 x$ _: q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% q& a# ^( }2 m0 \+ N# j8 i
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ d% r, A5 i% z4 t, q. fmedical schools.5 x+ r9 J; e# j
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 @5 B `- P4 N! j2 ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 A; [# o( s+ s: K3 R3 K9 ^to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 {4 Z: z1 Y! {8 h& T8 rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 ~$ B5 l8 x8 y2 f# {3 z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# [* G, D6 }! V. h/ A$ `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* P0 S/ j' u+ i. M! ~: u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# R# i3 B1 G% T' N3 G5 k" v- Wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: H! ~4 H" j2 {' e$ x5 Ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some, q) k0 R$ y4 e) _: J# s* V, A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" N f$ \$ |. e6 P
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: L7 H4 r4 }, s6 csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) Z. T V4 E1 h! n2 T2 B
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 Q% z4 \% ^: G, T3 X& y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ j" S. ?6 K' o# v- |- N3 @# C1 I0 y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
* u5 M9 g2 S; }( G sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ |7 M7 ^4 F kDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 ?- _( v: L- t. ?6 j) Y3 l! {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! S* e8 P+ P- Xcharge the fee defined by the state.$ J3 R7 Y0 {& Q/ U
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
& u, {" [0 F }7 Yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' ^. w1 G- f: }( H5 _of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# n9 A1 n: r7 [' O! \) s Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) T7 r+ @- j1 K* p& E
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& ?% a( a! Q+ h5 ]" Wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) l9 o W, _0 W
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ P) M Q. E7 L% R9 C( f# s$ A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ q! ~2 m2 A3 T/ a- \7 l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, n- c0 e/ z0 ^2 s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ K) t1 K# N7 Q, s2 J; G& s& I8 [( [people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
b- D h0 {3 f; dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# k+ S- v% y9 Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 F7 G$ B! J. C" L' v3 ^0 Sare spaces.
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" {2 r- u' }0 ]# t3 g4 jThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 z U, H. \& ~9 ~- S; h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 y8 j; d! n9 ]* S3 a2 B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 \ j. k: e q6 z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 _# Y! f" Y& b' h1 Bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 G' T; z) t" E* f, u5 q+ C5 R) S
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ U$ s/ y) g C2 D' p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, r3 f: }/ d4 P$ B) S& b2 f; `% _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, x V% q9 ^# z6 C& ~! R( W1 K7 His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 Y! ?+ Q' k+ a, U$ i We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
