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' \, h9 U1 ~; p4 I0 r1 E& z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, H1 m1 X2 W$ \
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& i w4 ?* S5 {/ u( a
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
y1 r/ a6 R4 x6 N3 Banswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( l( B8 {9 K( {/ E45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 I4 x0 A- V! v' \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ w1 E6 v: Q8 ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 m: l' F0 n0 ?& b8 ?/ I; L
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# _; {% i# M" U9 X
medical schools.
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A; P F4 ]$ F6 h5 U- d8 E8 hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" m" s9 C9 R& B0 F, Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ [& Q: N. O" m2 @9 U( `to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ ], O$ z3 z o1 I0 n3 o" wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 |; f) Q9 S& w4 K/ T$ {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ P; w2 M/ x; o4 Wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
( y# m3 z" A, V" ^8 Useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* ?8 T+ j# `( h7 i
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: \' c6 H1 c; Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some# r3 C! R3 u) @1 H
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 X7 d7 n! U* y0 l
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 z0 \$ x' } |9 F" E. x% fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 l0 Y1 H) W. r7 m. _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 m/ ^0 @. r. ?" g( f- U$ [have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ K3 W+ q. A$ ]. Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ I6 E, L+ Q: A) \8 R0 K& p1 U4 n+ Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 z4 D( i0 T# [( ^0 {
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: R+ Z0 O9 d) a
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 M# d; z" x9 y& u9 ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' O& m; P0 P: u2 d Acharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 G8 D3 b7 B5 K: B2 d$ k) h+ won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, J) \0 @: F$ y9 Z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 l- q& i/ R! a! `, G: ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& ?: f' m8 T0 I' a3 L& j/ f
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; L) R) E% w. k9 N6 b7 N i7 R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& r& E# O1 C. d3 Sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if# L: v/ R+ G4 _$ m" U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 x( d3 [( Y8 }; q5 j
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 B1 |& Q9 ?* }, Yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 ]/ U7 Y( O* g; T2 xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) m- |, {. O7 X- [4 s3 ^! m& {to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( x: G6 K1 o6 @ h4 K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 J1 [# @9 @; \# ?4 e
are spaces.
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8 k! E4 g2 P) X0 |2 q! ]; v- ZThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- m% D4 w. ^+ @/ e3 `9 Qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) M7 v; g* g3 K1 V" i" Town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, \5 \$ Q: q; `3 H) Z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 p9 Y( v+ \0 X' \parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" F0 p4 N9 |; F2 B. R( jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: m# C5 `& f+ g8 w( P5 j1 y7 g& t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ ~, @2 G1 z! tcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* |4 J$ h7 T7 X, z/ j1 fis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 f4 r7 w3 |5 {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
