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% |3 X$ g9 b. I7 u" r4 F4 X; `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, G' ?, K0 ]/ V& Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: D1 g% K0 I0 q6 E+ ^
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ E _ J+ e% q/ t, j7 Xanswers to our pointed questions.
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- {' o9 k1 P% W4 KThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 c0 P( ~* k6 O4 N3 B' x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, ?: ]5 r+ E7 ]8 Q7 |8 Wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; ?( d/ ]4 U& }9 H+ ]9 ?% i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 u5 W; n1 `* W! y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. h- o6 D4 q! b3 O$ c4 x6 y7 d3 ]medical schools.# L W$ x; Z. \6 _0 A. q N4 \
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' q- ]: x) c* }1 c4 {+ w. mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; z# }4 r+ ~$ R3 D
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ u' f0 h2 {% G% c; h& O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# |$ a: O6 P! l* Wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to g0 I/ [2 ]2 Q/ X& R
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 M, J: d: b& O- T' p" {2 I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
X2 m# [5 d; Z( M5 a {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( R7 N! e4 P6 x3 k( Z! k- k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! d _% j- ~! X8 b2 m3 S9 X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ B5 [, g5 S" F- E
, X# s3 E' g" E ^( n: s/ W1 V3 p, MThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 n' j; h2 r4 [6 X$ n% o7 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and b! ~% K6 |) s R2 W
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 f5 y# X3 g. r! s+ Y2 }
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 s+ i1 X8 I' ?" v. Z( Z$ Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ Z2 A. Q8 g3 Y) s psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) T8 R9 p3 T0 F3 c5 Z. b- Gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) `' @$ Q$ [* K) D4 [Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 n8 w8 R6 N: `
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ R9 f: u& D& H% |
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ c% @* |# V2 z3 e+ R# [8 V8 u3 m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 O2 G" ~8 R5 Y1 M& M5 ^
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 j* V! @: C0 [8 F) Z+ otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
S b1 m# t5 N" A j+ \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* ~- K g; O% k% ^; j$ E; ]
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 f7 L( Q6 j' m1 m
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 T- ~9 I% i3 o5 v* U) {* _, kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; b p& H/ E5 T& k8 ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) g- ~1 O% G* @7 C* j. nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! q! w; O* A! P) a; g) L; |9 ]
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* {8 p+ h% f# z& e
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' O* |3 u2 ^- }; y* x6 ?; Nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 K+ @; [' n$ V% O
are spaces.) o' ^; ]9 P( X% r5 y; J! a! H
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, V, i5 o6 K. g! Y8 K/ E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" [6 _) |: t5 G3 `% u- g: X3 fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( j" g- g, m4 U8 h3 Y/ c
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' ^( S) m* z+ j ^: A0 Uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 L, Z$ \) `/ kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' n& M8 {0 u h. |- V$ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
. f, x7 c% c. Rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* k B7 I1 o9 D: K" ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 @ q- n1 r1 |4 ~- M# H We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
