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
6 n; r o3 v( h# C! x$ ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* G( ?$ p& P$ P8 t8 H" X
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! w, U7 v! {2 p# l- x"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" G1 y: Q8 ]$ ^$ H+ `6 x( a- O% |
answers to our pointed questions., M; Z2 g0 Z7 H1 T
; W4 K# U8 U) T. D0 hThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& v# b4 W! f1 U/ u) a0 D- Q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. b5 }* p' \% _7 b3 ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# H* {4 s6 s; O5 `8 D) l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ p& R- k( k5 z3 k2 Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ C3 I& l; b, y: R- V U, l
medical schools.
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' H' Y, s* J( @ Q: O' TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ S9 \( w' s* M# M4 I8 C/ m9 C
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
U/ S/ ~0 z# F- l( i- mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 T) q( f! D. i& s7 jassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ j7 E `3 u' Z* p) E% h6 r
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* Q( ]) W. f# I6 d3 }. P
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: G G/ Y) e0 `* ^/ Bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% m/ D3 E* u) r3 Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 a/ \* U/ C+ ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( G$ u! V2 T% q1 O2 ~* @) k0 S: l/ \" e
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ I% o! y" x% B8 W }- z1 Zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& p* M& I: C6 O1 ?, F' u+ T: l8 Q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! O9 h, Z E- X5 w
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ W* g0 _8 q" m
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby H5 g% y n: P5 v4 Y9 ?
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ y. u0 X* D: q3 q$ h" H) P
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" J3 V( S* J6 R: t! |3 ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, V% B/ g9 J8 q! A+ t5 Ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
$ z+ Y4 e% a- N9 `4 Wcharge the fee defined by the state.
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; O" _8 n8 ]0 j0 T! IThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ {( q; u1 W: x) t; m" I$ P
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ D/ {9 n9 X* Y* ]9 i# |% P0 J; cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ c. U: ~% V+ Z" p& M% d9 h8 g3 ]+ Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- k! x7 V1 W& Y/ L; c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 `6 v Y9 `& u7 d p$ m
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" Y* I3 Z- j! Z' U; _" Y5 `% F* |" `
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 a/ ?0 I( w1 c, y+ [
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# G8 b# n" b/ G9 H
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 e6 W! X! y1 w, `( ^; Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' q, D$ m# y/ h& r% E: p' ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
b. {7 C2 D# e k& V8 fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* X( }- [' w; k* R, X( Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 m; m v! R4 C, a K
are spaces.& R, u: l, M: A+ A: \; { |. l/ O
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ W( ~9 o I. tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 ]$ d9 D& d$ m' _* r
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 O' V( ]# y3 L* X& Z/ U7 z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# l; m! x/ i, N: O. O0 C2 O# ?6 y+ J ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 M5 E* l6 q; u, bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; T9 {5 X6 w; c3 m# T/ H5 q, J) Knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" `- D9 G* m: }. Z: q3 y& }
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- K" i. v1 ]1 `- _ Y2 p5 F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" i! G, H0 b- E/ J7 b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
