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, _2 {$ Y% ?4 G$ L& q4 f {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 v" |1 |( L5 f& R8 B6 t
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ f' i" E, T2 M# L! \, t. Y+ h% {' m
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ I7 z: j: b: ~( d$ m( [9 M. _answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 {+ ^5 {$ L; D; x: T) D45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 x0 g: ?, |" ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" g4 s- {, Y& a( j# }1 b" Q; e$ Afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 R) d, H- L3 f( a" ^( ^6 q9 U1 ]' G
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 z, I! C8 s' |# J
medical schools.% F1 v' \ n' g- u% P* i
* J, @' ^3 [1 H6 |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, @4 Q8 `, p% Y% S& C
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ j: M. M7 w4 ?! ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) j+ t. Q6 v! [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" B d( H1 H% V% q6 P: \! k; ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% W3 Y- t3 s9 ~3 J) H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! w' B, M5 R& ?2 Q3 useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 A1 Q; s+ l" c: }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
# Z; E7 C% k* ]3 Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 R/ f6 k" H1 a" [ |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 g0 o, d0 D& R) X( n! v
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# P1 e" l7 p% ], T$ {supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 {; q5 W% c: C* Q( t9 Fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# ~5 j; y4 y/ p0 h9 N4 u4 rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' L5 H* o7 K; b+ [: Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' k) H4 ]8 x) Z" r Q+ `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 Z4 n' V5 |* l- WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) H8 G: f( L6 r: G
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 g3 B% s, G. y
charge the fee defined by the state.& N, Z- j. t8 N+ _- C# `
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, g" U% f; y* e$ ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 E- [ p! i% d! r; @5 I8 {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 y8 T5 c& C( ]2 G( k- r) [2 Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; [! ^, _! `9 O$ H2 k5 n2 R
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& u ?0 b9 o# B: \ G' xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ _' ~) ]1 T8 \! l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 m% _, C5 p6 o$ ^. M2 u6 e: \
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ A/ J$ s+ c3 ]: X/ A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! Z" U0 _9 R, V# P( Bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( v* m* n: d! T7 E5 {9 v
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: P; z0 J: g. \0 \
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 M/ K) r' p# a+ ]5 pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* L6 d& ?0 X9 q9 Q
are spaces.5 B' ~% H! M L" k- E
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 x* ?9 a7 i2 n! y E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. I/ N) B8 _5 J- Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" x a( U9 D% ^$ r* P40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, g1 Y0 A4 p2 A- |1 Z# L) c& eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" i" d5 t. j t9 D, A. P% e; Z3 m
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% z4 k/ k7 D- D+ x
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! R- h* T5 W7 \8 A5 n( V; Ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it D# I* \0 E6 t+ ]2 s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& q3 q9 Y" c! N9 v, y! v
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
