我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 Q4 H/ B: h7 Z/ a; M9 `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" U7 C# Y$ S- C) a( Yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ l0 j- b* p% L) N1 F4 ~" t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 w" f* {. j5 N! p; Vanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ k/ d& o2 b6 J& v45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 V! ]2 G) T0 I5 w8 c
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! }2 h0 M9 |# H5 bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 y1 }" c1 q+ h, }) |
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 C8 i( t+ D a# Amedical schools.% O) S4 X* K2 w8 n; Z. ]
`& m! { ]. \2 B' mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. h0 Q$ R( o7 {& s
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% M( q, \& {' B% r, ]- I3 }/ mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( F' K) k3 \% Eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ U9 V$ P) o5 T' H- c: O0 }2 W
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 }' `! w R/ b' [* G
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' `+ ]. K# C9 e' c$ U% g% n
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ V2 N% f4 X, l" G8 Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% R) |! L2 n) b: L# F9 C
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 M2 U7 L5 {/ i3 e% h) usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. `; S* q3 _9 u' V
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ g7 y& w1 _* {. Q! h, l
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 m+ a3 a8 |. A3 {( I9 H# H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) F8 q4 d1 z" c& \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 P* B: q7 g5 D8 r3 r# u8 m/ [3 xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 A9 H! G2 L6 J" ~) G h6 zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
d. N# D6 x+ f; |) bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 e& y' A/ f* C, F& H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
o0 q! U5 V3 {4 L) W$ Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 a, I. R. ~/ B; |' s7 bcharge the fee defined by the state.' G5 T. u' p6 a3 }' K5 z
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. e/ A6 Z" b) s `1 [( ?! d2 j+ H8 y# G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" E! r' z I6 B+ X/ U$ ]2 {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ K7 k6 a* o# X% k
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; _. e0 `7 Q- z( h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. b2 `; u2 E, \2 P# u8 Z xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) d& T0 j: {) C. ]4 j8 n
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if ~. ~# U) j4 z! _$ N
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& ]1 m, D& X/ n" s8 H
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) h7 B9 w; I6 rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! y2 F F: U' M- F: |- J( W) speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ n8 p5 W! ^3 d- Vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# M+ r! l `* Y* g Lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 K0 v- [: l% g
are spaces.
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! ~0 E) y' A4 Z' l L8 I4 a# IThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( p7 L2 Q, @4 e e; e+ |
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) S; Y. f4 P) g X+ b- oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. D+ Y: ?7 b H U3 R3 [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 j0 T" w: D8 i8 }% Zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# {, b# w5 E! |8 q& X0 Q3 v& Lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- b2 x5 z# k3 M3 x. j9 m* k; V7 G& Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 n$ Z1 t l/ l. Mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ k- ^$ R0 s7 N7 Xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 \% G, Z# O9 i8 `! H
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
