我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 r' {/ M o# h7 Q) P/ R9 r, r6 d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went G, g5 g0 ^, }1 X& `9 s
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: f" S. X+ [" X; ~! F2 n# U7 x"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 m% T2 x/ d$ Q4 d5 Z% V6 o/ {
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( S" A3 m; ~7 t- v- B% m5 t1 V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" E' A. C% f4 W, v3 iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! e" }9 ?2 {3 I7 I& N
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" D' z# D+ s, z* s+ _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; c; r/ Y6 e+ X3 G7 Cmedical schools.2 {( l8 R" |& z7 Y: q% X3 ~
) t: z1 _& p0 R' b3 `2 n, |+ A- l& FEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ k- O# I% p4 ]3 s
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. K/ h2 q) T) z: ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years x3 d# q8 p& ^4 d! T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 b- B! Y$ }) J# L/ O+ t5 Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- D3 @1 f) U: O
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 C" \0 p, P" E" d `/ q8 u/ P- m+ M4 Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ B9 {# h5 r: W6 {1 v! Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 s* e$ ]) a6 G, r
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, e( h6 J' U; {: a* r) q% C. gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., `2 q! C+ ~0 ?7 K
5 K% Y1 r/ R; E/ t$ cThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' ? F8 Y% I3 B! z* N
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 k Z5 N2 I8 v0 G: Y# M Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 V6 A" k8 B/ I6 H6 E
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 }8 f- i$ ~5 f3 fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 a: o: e' ]; P0 |
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' \ b+ s$ _ c) u' N
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 u4 ~% u8 c1 R# a; Q V' G
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% ~( l- \3 `/ S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) T% v" [/ u3 ^5 g5 d
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: z$ a9 x+ t# W6 P T( ~3 k; D( R Hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 {1 ^0 @- }& I7 k: lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 |' `9 @( e2 _% F2 Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 n) u7 C+ ]9 g6 ]8 U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ E* s7 q) V/ J4 rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# O1 b- w2 D2 d9 N+ v. u# E! o% o. \, u
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: t: _% x4 s' g6 U+ t* m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! ?4 p, D& e; A* ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ D9 X# D* _$ \2 L
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ ? e- C) y- \, a3 q0 Kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: B, P% N1 p: j. W2 r' qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 t3 w. r+ Q [% b% g9 Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 Q! g# x$ R2 t7 M! Gare spaces.4 x; O+ |, b5 G! f
: w/ Q( r' g! o9 S3 L* zThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 X4 F# Z: h1 j/ \' K: G
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 F" c4 M% E( r( g uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ x0 Y" }: u; H- x5 U8 k
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; P# T: l9 T5 c7 o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 k+ W+ Q" ~9 b Y1 W [: }8 A2 @9 g
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, ]. U7 G+ k" N4 @* J! K6 Q8 U+ B
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* e% i# C5 S; O! W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' g- n2 b2 O9 j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 B/ T3 R* d- a# [9 p
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
