我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 S% i" a% g. D: i4 `- o$ T- T
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) U& j' Z, G6 ~; G# a& G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% D" O8 D( x! ^0 C+ ]: m8 ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give N% s. @/ w4 Q Q& U$ s8 c0 G& Y
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 k1 _3 J/ b" r b
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand t4 }) z& v' S1 S8 d0 {& c1 z0 s1 G
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% P* T& d6 L- Q7 C9 L6 _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 w3 ^/ J0 M) k% C/ b7 `( o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
% D0 B1 g5 E( q9 ]' E" Jmedical schools.: a' Z( \/ ?9 Z* t v$ b( o, w8 `
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- {- c, E- W1 M" Y) @' r Q* \9 h. _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ I; V" U# @1 M% b oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& h6 B( j# k- ~6 I( g& |8 u3 Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ H! d( G0 d& C- w. z) V6 q5 [; j- N
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) W8 a( l- R3 o* \+ ?1 @/ F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
9 Q, {- ?+ v Z+ p' M$ K* R hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 r/ P* Q+ v% c @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 y$ _+ Y7 O2 F# B" h, t3 h- Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. E+ d: j+ z* B5 hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 [0 o4 r+ v# C% ~& C1 ~" I
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: H; }" Z: G% sprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 S: q% m- z3 H& [- _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 Y8 ^- M, x2 Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good F+ e$ H& Z% Z; C1 k9 S
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 m6 [+ x+ ^8 |1 G( xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ ?' j) @7 B$ p! v
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. N5 c( t5 X0 V& i# [* \9 H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 l G1 @: C M8 Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' [& M6 H1 c1 b H; |. qcharge the fee defined by the state./ P- r2 ?" [; L2 A9 p
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 C" E& i+ \& m' W: ?' |+ [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- M) K. _; ?+ z6 `; I# {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* p8 ~& B* k) x" e7 _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' E* `' z5 r; l8 Q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ A& [& J$ c7 G8 q$ _% aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, `9 r6 c% z/ V! {# T9 G
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
e# g. t2 ?. W4 K( xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- c: b7 `! a: F8 k6 c% U. ?1 Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 A% @. U; A5 \
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 X) m" _; R$ Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 v1 u% u" u' c+ k
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ D2 L. V( l' Qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( m! Y; r( V, l& O9 u! z& A$ ^8 n) Yare spaces.- P8 q: |* [9 ]! ]4 v: T" ]
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ b* ]' m& \9 @. S- Q" O4 x
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, J* i9 y$ R$ x; K' b/ ^9 xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! z! @" {$ d- x3 k t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% B" _! F3 N+ _/ Y1 ^1 ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( y) a F6 h6 Q, t+ M% [8 h/ p g
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( ?0 ^; F4 {8 V7 b! Pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 S6 ]5 L: A7 }8 y: Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 H8 ~" @+ a0 {8 v8 o2 U* F& Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: P% ^/ }# [" X* g* C( w* i We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
