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# X, Q" v" c2 y3 L* N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( |, R% B& e' p. |+ i8 N: f1 ?$ q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 T, `+ t1 _2 l+ m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: a9 F( [) E) A V( }answers to our pointed questions., W& _, g' `7 n, x0 T4 ^ a/ [# `- Y
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 t# y) |9 H8 l d! p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ [9 D {& f& A9 d/ W
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) U3 b5 j7 i/ F$ x9 U" c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" }& `1 y1 l( Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) M) a) s, n/ S; V: Y
medical schools.# k6 r9 g* M% F4 t( o0 i- H
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 b1 ^/ k' W+ c6 _# a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" g2 k3 g# I4 a: e& K7 H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 ^; }! N% b \) v8 fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. m0 ?( I5 A$ I$ P% [
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% c* G2 l6 y7 U* K2 P7 U: s' }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 c- p2 p7 c# f0 Zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 s" h, d8 m' d9 Q6 ~
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. ^* f( p) |9 p) Q7 x
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 k) ?+ j x: t. w" a+ X& q, S" wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 B& L- j3 I. u
5 R: w0 P( {* |% D' Q8 hThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* a1 _0 d. b6 z$ A% j
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ `; N b& l" k* \, l
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 L" k( V7 V" w9 ?have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. O* Y/ D( O0 X0 H% W% ~/ w
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( S: u2 ^) q: t8 L* I
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) q/ B& m0 g3 v& b- i6 Kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ n3 K" H; x: S' f4 k1 N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ H' o, Z; g& r0 b# W+ ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ }2 ^( Z, U5 h& J
charge the fee defined by the state.
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2 I) U% }) g0 i3 NThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# `. b" v4 \% pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
2 Z' M5 [. a: E9 H% I4 Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% ~4 b/ G- H( W+ Q" r* Z2 ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 H, \& P* b% i) ^+ hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, C9 `1 |4 l! A+ G: B L9 g% x. g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% {+ d. |1 H6 e. ?9 o1 @" s- h# E
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- P! T, y0 O; t5 y @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( O' k* k- [# N! y5 {9 c/ f
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
{' F3 t7 e, N# [hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ S- j7 P3 |; i. J. Y ^2 n6 @
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! [# @# [& N2 t. a$ Q5 U* @. Y& h3 sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( Q u U! { b0 V/ L* ~( ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& D* Y2 x9 J2 q) c8 @2 q. t
are spaces.& [/ m2 ?. z6 R; p& ~. w$ T
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 Z* E# |- u7 n& B2 a8 K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% f2 d' r/ A x' X+ k! ^6 |
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- K8 |1 f) i" j( f40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" `$ Y s4 `* F9 }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! S, v ^7 M) U& r. {4 J6 i! C3 {" l5 hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 {$ h" _' f4 y. }4 q Q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 S+ S2 ^* g" B6 {' t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 H7 ?' W) S+ J" u- g5 n9 Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 s/ I& \' m& B. W
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
