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
: h; x1 X; E/ d+ D& O- m5 dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& r; t) X0 b1 g8 fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, w6 K# v- G7 f) S) ~: p"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: S( y/ A* p' K1 Y/ o% M5 Danswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 z( v0 e3 P/ v* }" s4 S45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ n$ k! g. D/ p" @8 hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ i( @, {- X- Y9 Y) Y s& k# U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 C; v( b* W( p0 k/ z: Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 D" T$ `/ V* Y4 ~5 z
medical schools.+ n, s t* U( x4 Y9 |4 w
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" n. j9 P' C5 |- ~4 K
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* R d$ ~& {) O2 B& M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" ]7 o W. V2 s9 ]) I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& i: S' j6 b) {' P( E; wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 T5 z! S: O( z* q6 M7 Iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
. N, E# o2 e) Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ K3 g5 z5 W+ Q$ {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& T3 ~9 I- T. B3 V
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( {6 x6 Q% Y* Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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m( b3 f0 X6 P* EThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* c; j }! O6 n7 K, j
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ ]' }# X& v( J1 R2 osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, x! L# ?* S; ~; v: d$ V1 z/ u) fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* v5 D; d8 R7 l& gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) G* R, K y! I; R- M
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( p M, A% x4 v( Edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' R" |0 b- i2 {" F' ODivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% q6 X8 D$ f0 s; D) @) i* ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: m" m0 i( j7 q, O# v0 D+ \! H
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; c4 i1 U% i' [6 h0 I @
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 W- D' N6 o0 W0 B" ?7 U! W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big, X w. ~0 J4 ?2 e* b: Y- v6 u: y, {) M. t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. _3 o4 w4 T. l3 E" z- I9 L( U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 O/ ]+ \6 h5 A1 ~" c( I0 bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. s5 p P* i+ S" T0 N: g8 L8 F" `+ ~
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 z. v5 q' [5 z2 b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% K- s: s* Q+ p! D1 I' \1 Ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* M0 o& o( m6 n+ b7 E3 c1 j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 |' c9 M" F; q2 K
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
. Y. P; {7 {) Uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; s+ D% c1 ~" n! L
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there V7 _3 `2 N- x+ d. m1 U- l1 Y. Z
are spaces.& c5 E4 i( h3 I: f9 ^
+ x& ^+ H7 i6 [* B( kThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 l: D! ~! e; R' `2 Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) u: q4 Z: d; g* M Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% k4 z" j! Y6 i& }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ \/ x b! {' t9 Q) {" v; c
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
; k& D8 [+ B- cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% K% a$ _- U8 }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' r$ \! |# o- z3 z2 v) k( C5 d" zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& W/ P# L+ c" ]. r% I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: x% C, v# @' e- @: e% r7 I" g We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
