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% i5 }6 p9 t' e2 C6 o4 D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, S/ B! Z" `+ @. ?, Ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% J$ E$ o6 T1 K6 L% x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) Q; P2 ]% y! b! x9 `6 A
answers to our pointed questions.6 g( V- h- {( q% B8 U6 ~% f
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; P+ ?9 l4 c3 D! Z* p& h5 d
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, b0 b% t7 q X, `. H v: S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ Z0 s# s5 B3 U o* `4 c9 L
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" A" D# \* M# c" `9 M8 R' Y+ V
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 ^% \: F( ?: D% X' ^medical schools.& l; B6 t2 `+ e
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the: j/ Q+ O. |& L1 H* N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- f( m! |, d. o/ J% Z. N& ~4 S
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" F2 }8 }, Y% T. k8 x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
1 G" Q) B* i% M; q+ K/ }' fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to g: l, U7 q3 |
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
y2 V* |" a1 w; Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 b0 b: ?& Y P% P, H0 H2 a
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 g0 \% S4 Q# L& Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ ` ~, w" r& gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ {7 o; f& y+ [. _3 I8 C- M
9 z, l3 u$ ]. I* Z8 w& Y' ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
& g/ h8 R/ V- p# P& Dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% a, I1 o+ E* t2 J9 [" @' y* U
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) h" r+ k$ \( d* I$ ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
X" ~3 C- K5 i& ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. {1 Q/ c: E7 s$ s' Q$ J$ Msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 _' T7 b9 c4 F& g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% U8 `; i1 W0 G* C) t* e: O
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# k1 U; }& y# Ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ m5 V' W" X& L7 F" p* \3 bcharge the fee defined by the state.
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" O8 H; [ \5 TThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' v5 j1 Q0 r8 F; q" ~on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 L5 z+ Z6 z5 D, S3 ?of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! i7 N7 Y/ j% |, }! q; |# x/ \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 u+ O3 ]# e+ S; Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# c9 }0 [" a& X, ~+ [5 r2 a# ?3 J" oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 L& m. H1 \ @1 g. yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 x7 K6 B5 @5 [5 H% ?
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% A3 T3 l; s1 U7 b8 W1 Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! E5 W8 C, ~- o4 ]* h0 xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
# J, [$ d9 g( w. x9 \' e3 @people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- d& y8 B7 k! y: `
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 z" G3 L$ ^) K# S7 sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* p- S) a$ U: V. C8 i2 Rare spaces.
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9 X+ ], T2 R4 m' [- jThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 w; k. u, Q* Lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; v2 B5 M6 F% m" w, ~ |$ ?
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, i3 y9 V6 m+ Q! i/ X6 B; ?$ q. x; T% D40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 M: {+ n" ~& g! ]1 k) g
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ p+ M7 f% \- f. b
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! v6 \2 [, T/ r7 Y/ X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ Z0 ?' j) m' V) H Ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 U" d- u' Y$ v$ S t' Q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 v) }3 G* P' d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
