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, c1 h+ O x9 [$ f; w7 @ L1 [8 L
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
N$ M3 k7 k1 Hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 D7 Z" n$ v: b* A7 P
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. C: g6 Z7 ?( o% S6 I/ yanswers to our pointed questions.! y* I: M: X0 J q
% u; ]/ w E0 Z, M) P WThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- |9 Y2 h' `8 u1 z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
K) ~4 w. A! Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% k# y* y5 Y% F1 }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; G* U n$ x0 \$ G: m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, a/ L2 P9 O4 X c
medical schools.
w) U3 } h% D+ J. ^5 L
! ]& `5 U$ N% Z' d6 UEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! X& S$ V& Y4 R5 V. e1 \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& r+ D- X% k6 z* O Q, Gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
]; t; Y7 G) @* Wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* N/ ?3 Y* w3 U- w! X, b( r; r. }
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* @* i6 o5 E h8 t* Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 B9 l6 w6 g" Z2 H: u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 ^, B j0 g# P2 L) @3 tmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) o9 M7 B# R+ }& S& s% l; N
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 T$ f; X3 q4 ~# k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
! c& i& ~) S7 r
+ Q: k ?2 |- x- DThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 J1 d. k) a* O* z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 F" g8 d$ ~0 Vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ p" A6 k/ e( V8 Ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: o' p( q$ \! U G
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby, r5 c$ z1 Q y3 P' T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. y E. ]9 f' M0 c, J7 pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: V6 J- X% d5 m5 X; \
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 K) g t8 p x( f4 G K; H. t+ Za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ j& \, |# h0 Pcharge the fee defined by the state., X8 ]# Y$ b) M9 w' E
- x e( `0 _2 `& O
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( g% e: p1 K3 @6 ^; \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 l# ?( ~% G, G/ g) [$ h
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' U) W, ?, r+ H& ]) U+ \9 B, wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ `5 l+ u" E* u/ p- s& Q& V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 D! J8 Z* Z t% zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* Q% z2 A* D8 Y: m/ ?* T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* u/ c' M9 z9 E: b& n, [* b5 }. Iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* p4 r8 \6 ]. H8 S* G" `. K4 ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 u9 l5 y2 j+ @4 u) p0 T, ^0 x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 Y, |2 Q" K# c9 I, m
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( W2 j1 d4 U. D& q1 }5 y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 ]! O- F8 q7 B
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* h' R! i: M6 K6 vare spaces.; O; C( a5 f. K$ i$ s7 ^3 I$ Y3 @
) t5 K& X: J$ F, X# o% [
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; M/ }$ L- v3 \: p* y t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 Z: q- @, j& p l: R
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 H* `6 E3 P% @! C- [; \7 E* {; }
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 G: ?: f0 }) K$ f
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: _$ s+ Q z. Y( y6 i( {$ |* A4 v
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- V6 t2 m6 m( y: |1 ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" J7 O4 j& |' u" Qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it V$ J1 V7 \* ]" U4 `% s# s2 `
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ n7 S) c7 f6 c4 M& ]! D+ r We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
