我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 Q+ n* y9 _( E: f4 X3 o2 P
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 ^1 r' j. y& p% Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# P$ o- U: s9 K9 V! @ F
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* o) M: a5 o5 t
answers to our pointed questions.
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& o4 a5 d2 z4 T) O! T6 k3 p$ b/ J2 EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( j4 _' f( U8 p: h- P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ r& ^7 r& J) r1 H* d# ?. J# tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: }9 R, ~- @8 B( t: I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ e5 v7 l; c- m; q ?/ Dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# B3 r8 u o0 T6 n; W
medical schools.5 X* k0 o+ s& s- q
% K6 u; }; g5 R4 x1 P1 r& JEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% p `, s' T. V0 N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: o- e0 P* x0 p" |$ i& x) g' Q( C# @
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: S2 ~0 k+ n) g/ ?assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# ?/ r( n0 y7 z7 Ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. g" V) |, i. V: Z- i( M# w% K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* a. n( ~# P, [! q0 f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 f8 l7 [! Z% z; `% Y* e, [0 @& W
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 g5 G) K6 ~( ~% \shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
i- v2 k3 s+ F# f8 esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; {" H6 w* U: _# u* x1 Q
2 l: \4 [9 E9 r9 ]* oThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! `6 p( T) M A4 B+ ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. v$ A- e0 H4 ?+ D& v
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 R1 `0 _, D4 t. N) t: P8 p
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% i# _: O# v8 K* J0 U; y4 d) tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 f! I r; ]% e. K8 O
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- x6 \0 u. T: @0 d rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) p! g; V# q3 Z/ L* IDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 O2 z. U4 S9 _. }+ W
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! W! c: V, m" c# y" Fcharge the fee defined by the state.* K5 |" Z$ H2 E0 o3 |5 t
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
I0 X; I* x7 ]1 M+ lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. V1 G- I( H3 N( v- @of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; Y! L5 J9 r9 b$ }* B7 Utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* j" B4 |+ ?! A* j+ I% O2 fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 x9 @: d8 ?% U3 k; u s! {- G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
) m, U) C8 b* k" ]& I- ]1 zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ n1 S+ u- X& J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' W8 r: K) d: G9 F& I$ ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# L1 E! P* c' j: V* Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* g. h. w- O* o4 s, m; b6 M
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% T3 u8 o- M# J' Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& P- q! R+ F% I1 U1 k7 Dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: A) z& _1 o4 v( A( e( ^
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
I: V* O/ {+ u! O; T8 ^5 fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 w( G+ p0 \" W1 [' x7 ?! G5 ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' w- t1 ?4 d* a- s+ u1 F2 y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( s: Y2 r. d% {3 `6 W& F5 r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! Z. t' s/ l7 z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. i c: T% N b- y0 K* g' e! ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% }2 q! f5 Y+ g0 g
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 I$ k+ z7 L' m! Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! M5 N; ~" C j4 W
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
