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
# s) r) O9 M9 d. Fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; r4 R% p6 q/ R" _; V! Oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; z8 p: ~ W/ a% A7 g+ \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; u6 |7 K5 t4 |- E0 k2 ~" _. @
answers to our pointed questions., C1 N4 R% W- u, U; e
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, S$ P( R( a v4 h1 N) q" d45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( |/ C; |5 P' Q9 g2 }7 Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ ^" @! z7 e+ l, r- u
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' }% l8 @% H% kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- G8 ^: a6 s7 b& s' z9 e, z
medical schools.. x. C) G8 @& t& Y) Z
4 l& a( i" `, k& aEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& ~- l) c$ n3 w7 }9 f2 ^
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) V2 D- v. x# L- M1 A% }5 Y4 h2 F
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( l& r* H! i) ^3 ~" v
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. y# X4 l& Z. [" W/ w
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; i1 _6 o$ x4 x0 |over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 M5 c7 V5 e7 g, ] s, W sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# o5 g. ]' f8 l: [, m7 j. @- `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 K; z0 M" `/ j( {0 {$ Pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 X' Y+ Y( L" Y! L& o \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( P( t9 c/ I& m3 |
2 @4 f/ b- w2 N, hThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 L+ J" D$ D! c' T) g4 Y6 gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* ?0 ]) G! m$ H" k
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 s3 y2 K. _2 P4 l8 M; P$ R
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% @. L' f5 R) G9 G* X( a. n' F0 v. u. E
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; g$ G7 |7 ~" g! N/ xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 i# j( F# A' H9 s
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ y* h. G6 k( S: Z1 K7 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! M8 F5 U) ^2 S [ `4 H4 t) ^
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) j/ E5 c2 {( c4 }charge the fee defined by the state.: \" D Q- A' B7 A5 n! g
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
) T) m( B; W/ Lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# g% }" D, M# y" oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 i- U. ~" }7 C: j6 E7 ?
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 p E7 u2 d2 P+ \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 L7 J8 z. k2 u. H* Hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 W7 J0 K; m+ h, Q5 N6 F0 yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 Q+ ~* i( M) g8 @! T
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; P& }. z/ U3 f& y! b$ H( [! @5 T9 a [: S
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 `! F* X1 h( dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 j4 k* C8 ~' e( q" F- _
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, q$ F* O9 y" O' n9 s. Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) M' I _# [2 ~
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( f C. O2 R7 |
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# k' _8 F4 d5 c. Z; J, y! yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' D' L, Z8 v0 F9 k0 O
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 B% S& k7 m; u8 X
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% R0 h# ~' k: _/ x! t
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) p3 Y1 _/ @4 A' L9 _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; [! Z3 H* ]9 B4 R& @nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* \5 D4 w0 E8 {car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 ]: D# ~3 C! U2 k5 S8 Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, p0 _9 x8 Z6 ^1 m/ G) Y7 h We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
