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 f2 {7 V P1 \$ p% M( @9 G
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; l+ T& v9 s' H+ ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 F* ]# V: H6 m; U4 L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give f0 e* ~! L# U9 [/ b4 L& q( n
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 t; [/ I/ f; D! s6 s6 i: L; ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 f F- ~8 w5 _# Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: |! V$ [: }) J- X% |' Cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
6 v5 N2 S/ a& s5 y1 a+ G7 Fto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& c! _$ d! ]% U0 L/ e" ~
medical schools. O) G5 b! y- i6 G2 z; k( K. U
/ u7 y" c9 ]0 R& M, d: {Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" O' e% j8 |5 @% v2 D" _! h" ^3 B, I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 L0 z0 N# ?/ ^) v' {
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- u6 @# C F1 P( c. u
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* z8 r2 ^& b5 v) u+ E9 a
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 O: B/ J& Y/ Cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
- B8 ^( J7 }; n7 Aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 C! A- Q* f' e* z4 Z+ j4 Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 J# l/ A5 z- wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 h7 M0 d6 @# Q) B7 S; P# o! L/ Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" f' S! K5 V& v1 @$ ~2 k( R2 aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& A+ B2 c6 L8 d& x, s! ?6 m8 K; E" ~
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 U( m, w9 c- D8 U# c9 I2 Q8 F
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' h# U+ x# f- y4 k
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 r5 b/ b6 M( R( H- i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, e5 ]) B3 C2 b2 |
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ B/ i) `& R L! h; z% |% tDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) J3 P7 v. B# ~' Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* V; a7 X7 L9 ~. Q1 `
charge the fee defined by the state.
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3 Q5 o; t j4 ] p4 \' _% HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 m6 F: V5 c+ u. S, e. son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 F. E( t: H. L
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big L) i6 n1 h% p9 u1 I& `8 O1 d4 P" W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ s8 @/ R& Z3 \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& R1 T9 D. y/ r0 W1 B4 ~working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! R* n+ B* \) s Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
/ q7 V) }5 \8 h2 H& ]1 l4 R- O1 ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. P @: n8 O) Z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: o' v# k4 [' ]$ o8 x9 p# s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- R; d6 G8 Q) A. h9 Lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: x: n. l( T9 J7 E' V9 L
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- K' J/ q+ S. G) }! _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. \& u3 w6 G. v3 q! e Z6 j
are spaces.
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. f+ n- F- e. L- S/ a) D. F7 CThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" F' w2 [9 z: }& q/ A: H3 i0 vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# ?+ O( `8 k* R/ J( x4 Y+ \* Sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# t: j6 z# j6 o( N. o: X# c
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 O1 ?8 ` g' R# g; W
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 `/ {# w2 b% E( a c& J( X* Kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 l6 \. d- d; Z# N4 Q. v9 l
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, W# C1 Q% ~# e& H1 @
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. ^4 X* l3 M) Y& o* k I& e
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 b8 \4 G. I$ v' F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
