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# x: L4 z* _. a, j* A
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 d6 ~6 g( ~' e& [' V, U6 s8 Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& O. A; Y l9 K( k4 N, m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ ^# W0 a( C# oanswers to our pointed questions.% D8 t4 H6 `( M, H) w
; ^9 l+ P+ v, Y: {* F yThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; v9 P3 N; W3 Y3 ~7 A$ |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! e: ]. b0 y- y/ }/ W1 e
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 N" n4 y; C5 o) h9 a- x2 K+ _; _# Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; r: N0 I; E* ^5 q6 W" Y# X3 Vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; ^- b; I+ P9 q+ F$ l0 M$ L
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ k. w) t2 ?: `: f6 V i" N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# K1 ?( q8 u" l/ tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ V& U. ~/ e! I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 P- _4 F+ S; X) d
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, s) p/ t+ r2 g ~& S" q8 `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 `+ w0 X A, u3 s& C. m% v$ S% Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' M! z! a. p% n: z/ [7 {, dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk, Z: V( t) w* `/ R1 o* j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: P4 E- c5 H8 O% y. P* p, G+ hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: t: t& a& \) P0 e
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. L* \/ L( o. \' z& A' Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 o( ~" d& P1 N" |9 Tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ q: E8 R9 _! y. _. u3 Nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ N% ~! C! U5 p" S
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- ^9 s E% @5 d2 psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 ~8 @- ^# O1 S; H2 h% z2 C0 ?
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 f9 ]3 \2 j1 J% G; K5 l
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- R* z h8 c) F: J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: g& u$ \, W& M3 S2 acharge the fee defined by the state.
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) I' z' S! ~7 y9 z" c4 zThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 v3 |7 y; E \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. V! m8 Z. ], Z, ~) @$ j
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 h- ` `3 V4 |" \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- x! n; G+ ^1 D/ Z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; G9 `3 _2 B/ A# j" `* Kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" r, F5 O; S" R2 t) i( j. Q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* X0 t0 e% k* e, \9 iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ S+ L4 n5 ?4 h: @# e
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ \ n" P( u4 z! X6 d0 Qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. Q: ^3 x8 [" y6 Y" T- u+ a
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 V+ @2 r r1 k
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 w9 p. m$ Z3 i. w \4 H0 ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. ~& e8 D0 Y* k p; _6 ware spaces.* g$ e" Q3 ^# b: W; t3 u4 h
) g) b5 d" u4 R1 OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ o: s. q! ~0 D% `" ]
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% v) _% y# L* N& n
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- p7 Z" q" _2 m# C- [, ~
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% `" d$ g! q9 |, A& i, f) d& Qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: {' c1 _$ T/ b1 Y* ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 [# g0 W; S8 K& n n: X# d1 D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 K" X: t! b S+ _! ^% Ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ e7 {! f$ T8 I7 r& ~* g6 [( F% U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! F9 C: ^$ D |
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
