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
$ \7 ?5 A* |' ?7 Z: s G9 Dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# U, D7 ]- l* [on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
A! r: E! L- @7 T$ S"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 O; D: G g; v' l
answers to our pointed questions.
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( z8 K" A* O/ [# A. y- Z9 ?The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# J6 \0 r9 ^) d3 [ t/ L, F5 l# B
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. R) d/ |3 Q& m$ O A6 |& K9 a
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ ?& x1 Z/ U$ v; x+ h) r7 T
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ s% D1 W7 G! q" Y% c
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! _; {" {, u, r* m* }. A& @) t# c
medical schools.8 R- x5 V7 @& W6 Q
+ a) ?3 Y6 R& ^& @; kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" }) g' Z$ _9 I5 t
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" ?2 m( J6 [' G: o7 Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* }4 l6 I8 W2 C) W( F/ [6 wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 A' s/ V, Z' ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. a) i+ X$ `1 l$ T. ^) y& ~1 D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* E& c6 D! d! m# O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 w8 [( g) }2 b* a0 X( K% ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ ]2 F/ V( P! Y* @0 @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, _" B$ }2 O! q. z: X* lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." Y" Q& K7 _- p/ S k! Z6 k% \* B! u
, Q' O' r0 F4 B, k, L7 ^) ?5 ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 X/ D) z8 b: g( r/ g. z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% u) B# W: I# v$ y$ R1 t6 d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! y* `' r C: T! {- [5 dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ I1 Y9 }2 H; Q A/ nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& w- ?9 Y7 u8 T8 }6 v1 g' s
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 n* _3 ~5 c0 @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# ]# Q3 |$ u! G4 f6 a$ j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 I. ]4 v4 J" W' Ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 n) b/ G; _" _) r/ l, @& F \charge the fee defined by the state. Z$ q# M6 |6 B8 c1 N* i3 F
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ n z4 U r+ A& won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# X4 t9 j9 A& M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# d4 N3 x& O6 u2 T- `
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: `' o+ a6 X& h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' S3 K0 O" c* m$ h5 R7 w
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on i: I+ ]( C+ j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( i9 }6 G' Z7 p5 D; a' }you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' O6 b2 a1 k' h' R- ltrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& h! `7 I" x8 H- f5 Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' u" c9 |# x( K: S/ ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 q# P% F* p6 H4 z: J" X5 Qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 H% z- v. C* Z7 G8 S& Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ ?9 U6 z( Y9 D1 aare spaces.2 }* A3 B, E+ T0 X& k2 _7 n
$ a4 D; t7 g+ f9 h8 KThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( |( ?* D1 O7 C6 ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) L- `1 G' F' q) ~7 D
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# C1 M8 P1 U+ s$ W
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! R Q4 J+ D8 H5 x( oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. H* H& s; p. w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; @" P2 X! l& Z7 ]# D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: a: J% b- s5 N8 gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& |6 X5 _6 |$ r
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 X; W3 B% }6 K4 h. f2 t We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
