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 b' u6 b5 b+ X% E. A# G6 S, u. vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' U3 }2 y9 n6 r9 o/ C
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; Z: @+ H; r# J7 z' B/ W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( F% }, v2 G; j% b2 @% z
answers to our pointed questions.6 Z# v+ d. _+ i7 T4 a( j: K" _
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ |. ^# B" [9 y7 E, Y& M n
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 m0 g. b) |8 N+ p0 r sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 ^5 p+ X2 G* f/ q; Q3 L
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% t2 P% G! _$ E$ Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 o; m+ [+ z6 a1 O& r9 Imedical schools.: B; A2 Y- U& V7 }
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) G, \. Y3 K L
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" ?+ [7 j) E* H/ z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 @7 w0 @; t8 j& U0 U& F% I6 `assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 _ r d W7 |
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ F% d" i# s( C2 W8 X9 cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' ^4 T y3 [: G
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and q; t, I. T- y. T0 S
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* R7 L4 X, x, K6 Fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% Q4 i, G8 X/ [& {- N* isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: t) b& R3 ^" c
! v- q# C4 [+ S! q& J- p5 W- tThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no: Y9 N0 l/ c: H1 y% W8 F, {( \ d' H
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% @* G0 ?; R% T* v8 a) r9 x" lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 M4 g/ j0 j/ y6 }' Yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ G% u1 s- z0 G" l# ^! y- v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" N4 S7 w# L4 @1 X- q2 K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% e3 C6 V# j- C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! D3 }6 b7 V" f1 QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When( Q1 I! U5 R0 R5 A0 R4 i; [ z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 A5 H. Q# y: y3 z% M- B0 `
charge the fee defined by the state.4 J! F! e$ O9 D) I5 e) W
% S9 |" c# F# l2 S( ]2 QThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% {: T1 t) G1 d; h. `on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
9 ~0 m. E: M% R) h/ @) ^of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 j7 p; M; X( U l
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 U) b: t) |2 |* o8 {seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
i0 \ Y' A8 wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( B1 h1 N7 @9 _2 A. gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ O( W7 r( o0 w& K7 F! h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* {1 h% `# a7 |0 _9 x+ K) x
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 p1 A+ K" f. |( M; dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 P. U% }' c+ u3 k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 ? r' P, y5 D! q6 Yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' j/ F2 N0 x( y- r6 [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% {; e7 ?+ y b, Y! J# oare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. T0 h0 D' [* B+ f Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ e3 m0 j" P2 c/ g" Q( c$ Q/ C
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! n! Y( ?' P4 u- P4 t% G
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" M, ^1 c0 u; X3 O. ]parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
Z6 t" P! j! R" `6 wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 O0 }0 A9 j5 h! I
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of S( J& F, p# D3 V) p3 l* C
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% }0 P7 s, h) P* P0 P2 k) Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 L8 P: d. }$ {1 H We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
