我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 Z* f6 c/ \, C6 k" x! C: q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% W* U# I5 M9 O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. `+ C2 o' n% k' B6 Y% G% @9 p" D
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
8 z, o$ w) O7 I# {$ Banswers to our pointed questions.% ^( C: [* X9 |0 v: M5 C+ b
/ m" Y7 X( x: x- M8 f( V" M. m7 CThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ j: A |7 L+ \45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 g5 P6 |$ n* C: Y' U2 I1 o# r- @out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: r! `- ^+ g% {% B
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ V4 r7 N+ }% g6 |' n; \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 Q: B: G4 W- e& U1 Fmedical schools.
! h [0 B% @3 i1 n* Z' f
& E8 [, X/ j- a9 OEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ _5 i4 @# _( @! s, g- X5 D6 Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; y! Z5 o+ R3 T4 E
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# |0 I3 Z& f" d! Y1 P. ^% Jassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba j6 a! ~; c( W" e- _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to p6 m8 a! c( T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 d3 a2 H A8 _$ ~& p1 ^& P/ E/ S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( l) A3 `3 _* b9 x* {" qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ E7 v7 c7 C- M5 A+ o' X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, W& F8 [0 H' c, g" t3 P
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 M0 A6 Q' m4 C" @
4 W2 `' H0 q5 H) _: I
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 l1 a& V7 D- i4 x oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" @9 \' l4 A+ ^* ~/ L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 p+ ]( x e: Q1 b9 hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 E( h3 N0 N: ]/ C1 u, _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" a6 p$ g* G6 l( ?1 i( \- W- jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 S* O6 Z# i6 A) l1 T: \& O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( N- X d% Y8 d; p U# t6 l8 G# `
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" y% o- }6 T( N* M9 E
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 O, R3 c. t y0 K! v: |& B1 N
charge the fee defined by the state." S# U" v. @0 C! _
+ n% e& f+ m8 s4 k' X2 sThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' [& | P( v$ a; Y. O( B6 @/ U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; R, M+ o* u6 c' S
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 Y2 `( L1 t1 e0 X" _+ Q7 t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 g7 z+ f, o2 t3 N6 c% z% O; Eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 J* E$ S- |& t4 Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# o8 u) ~# I8 J; [0 S5 m. t8 Q8 K W
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- N% L: e! k& j9 K* ^( byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& ~2 c4 I$ q+ h- utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 E0 f- j+ F* i1 d' s: U2 X3 N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that p% x, d1 |1 e+ j
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 b! }; {, |) R5 T- N& H( H1 rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; d* C9 z- }: P% r* w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 t$ e: E5 A* a
are spaces., a1 w/ r- o3 T% l! x$ H. r7 i
- }- h6 {1 D! xThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 m7 w( x o# u# c! g4 k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 x/ }: a, ^; y- pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! e5 F* {7 y K3 [ E
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# t, x& N0 u. d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- T5 ?3 T8 ]. E2 t& f% z9 ]best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 ~7 {, ^0 ^. |8 ]& N% k+ znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
g: `. d& Z1 I( J2 zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 A2 Q2 [7 V0 ]7 z p% ?is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% O/ x J2 N. R1 H1 c! x: Q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
