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; b; c9 ^5 O; T5 }' G* x; o3 M
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) q3 A8 c: [7 F. W) _
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 A9 [; V6 s$ z, L4 j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give P. }# C3 k$ Y$ _- o
answers to our pointed questions.7 b+ j, z2 t' H3 H. T6 r
: |! Y4 Q6 L8 q) q& F) h" e3 EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: k2 y5 u; z) ~45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 v8 V7 A* z. y& s* p1 J
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# i+ g9 X3 k! F) q) L9 @6 `* o
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% [/ P, [$ ^9 A6 C9 b. w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 X" B/ a/ u; h8 M z$ C4 y
medical schools.! |5 g% S+ r( U; J
6 Q) s( v) O) dEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& e( e: v$ n" Z9 F( [7 Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ f/ a) l% t6 o0 Z7 `, u5 Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 k, H4 x8 L% _- X# b5 d
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# V1 y+ O9 t4 a3 t; J
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
& O% |, E0 _7 t: j: z, |$ qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* q8 e% N. f2 nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' _9 B( }7 i( t$ H
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& V, j) ?1 ^2 Dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 k9 t) n& u' ?, I* N8 v c: H/ h: ~sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ k# R5 c7 b& w8 ~2 W% p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. t& g1 T+ B- u! m4 B- `
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, }4 Y: g* {: G. Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( M( Z8 T7 y% `6 N
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 E2 K2 O' I# Y! s; K6 p P9 \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 w8 Q; E: C$ G/ ?- c3 h
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( ^% B p0 D' w% m: t w% g* p
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
a& {* T' q9 A2 p6 ]4 B# c) Ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) L2 A8 Q- |4 {! ycharge the fee defined by the state.8 y8 q$ R9 B# g; X+ g; f8 ~
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get {* ~5 P- h* T; F8 y" _
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 v9 y- d. [/ ]
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! K4 \, y, W8 [+ q& G% Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ z7 h1 m0 A# {
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! A, k4 v# A4 _9 s! V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 J- ?4 ?, l, fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! x) p7 Y' s- ?2 `/ s8 U" T0 _. d
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! c! @! k( r8 ` z) Jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ ]& q4 b$ B3 g: w8 h shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 @" l$ }: w7 w$ u5 Z' Z: R* [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' _8 n% R# n+ @$ Y& j
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
H# m' f+ G1 }) d5 fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 ]9 c: `1 F3 V
are spaces.; N5 N5 z8 A1 R. q
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ l w, n% l2 G$ O$ X [
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- b: v( t: S& {own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 N6 v2 j1 Z2 ~7 i7 h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
) r3 ^0 ?0 P2 g/ D! ~- Dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& ~7 i0 L Y, o7 P" o4 x0 d$ F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. P# _. p2 ^* G! y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) b1 V$ U, r4 ~
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ G5 }# h! [5 |is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% w7 m5 V1 L( I( Y. X6 T
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
