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) x) E3 a6 G5 K+ H+ g/ N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, }, @5 |: `2 z M, kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 m* L3 v0 _" a- R' g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 T" P" x) k: e( p6 i: v
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. P a2 a9 l. `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 L% [" P$ a X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" Y; f5 j' r: ^5 B$ f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# @4 Q8 G8 D2 Z# X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 b+ H" d3 X0 R. c# g+ r: Y
medical schools.
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" ~6 ~ `. g# W/ s0 l2 O4 Y wEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- x Q7 h' Q$ a- Q" D6 S7 V' c
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 j/ y2 S' y3 c: j5 P1 C
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. R* ~% N' k S" u7 [/ F, Z! cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 @# W) y8 \8 _4 N \# [9 d1 I# v
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 H. Y; T9 e, { x5 F) F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ |& w* j( _# b: B5 n4 K
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 z2 p8 j: e5 [
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- e) z$ G6 U! V% B' {/ c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 N2 J+ C n/ ?& D7 ~" D8 q7 R4 isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 j7 z1 {, s' s# i
2 T+ T; |! Y4 i+ xThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
6 O$ ?7 v7 n1 T. Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& W5 ^) R: O' Q# W' u# A" A, V" f
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 s/ J! `8 [; I- c' o* w7 Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) p* ^( s \! {5 E
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 n3 F& E+ X; o. Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! S# G4 }6 l4 z5 ]* {% sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ @# R( ]1 ^6 d3 d7 T8 k( ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 S/ z1 {; o2 y( E7 F# f/ n
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 R; V) Q$ T g& Z; g# f! icharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) c; N; \0 _2 I/ @- }
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, I: G* ~/ a% G2 u2 ^+ i4 r/ }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; m `5 _2 o/ `3 @; I* U& ]
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 M% Q' B" P4 y' `' w- gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- c2 h1 l4 V% L5 t
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# ?# s! E! N4 E* P' T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% S+ A, p. \& U" Z& A- K/ tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) _! I6 o; C. |8 e* ~$ M3 vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; K- H+ Q) s- m) G- S# Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! Y8 ]5 H* X7 q+ p2 R9 y1 F# Upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want/ B* g* F3 x2 y6 O- T% W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 S; G4 C! J9 t* T- e# q* mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
0 Y/ D" B3 k% F5 Z2 Uare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: Q0 j. c2 ~: s; S& ^7 Qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. l- K1 s$ c( }
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" s3 }) B1 d+ @2 s1 i; a" s40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
3 c1 I$ Q% i( @5 ?: V3 x; f. [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) Q' O, e7 |+ Q$ o0 n! ^6 g. j- U" Xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) \7 ?* Q! i/ z1 h m0 B. p' h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; b' H0 R1 Y) n4 a, L4 N: `- D; V' |car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 x4 D4 ^) u5 X1 [- `) j+ k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ {7 w* D7 ]% d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
