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, Z4 i. s* P i! a
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 F4 W2 r4 d" [- {7 aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," N `( }' o5 C3 b9 I; |& Y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 f W6 j+ L$ Vanswers to our pointed questions.
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7 T( i. X& K5 UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. Q* ]& j% R4 h; R& N/ ~- q+ m
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) Y+ p& a0 ?, W, [8 Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
# O* {# _+ r, M$ \free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& v# {1 r# n1 |( A+ H
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. W3 Z' O# ]. F. Z* Nmedical schools.- V* N% J3 u& J% L
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ {1 q0 ~* ]. v t+ M( U4 ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, i6 \4 e: a3 \5 k- gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- \# b8 E1 \" }( M- l; \ P4 V' B$ ]( |assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 }/ {) y3 Y/ C1 g+ Eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 r+ U: X9 X8 n' E' Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
( w/ y& b/ [7 u: I3 M2 rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) O7 y4 Y: y' P/ Z7 Z7 B+ ?" s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ k. o+ @# f! _( H# U" [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" x' { t* v% }- N! u$ m+ H7 H/ zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ Q2 f0 f& O) ^& r# s, O3 hThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 U1 l( t. x$ y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 u. X2 |% G: m% o F
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& q( \0 m# G. a- I: f: ~7 W qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; I' w+ Y' e# O; f9 [* z* Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 L1 A! [7 g+ |( Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ ?7 n0 X0 P" v: U
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
A) H, e6 Y6 |. QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 B% K/ v- y3 m/ s Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" Q$ d6 }4 ?$ Y( G( e
charge the fee defined by the state.9 h: R1 I2 O( i4 L
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ A4 ]! p2 W5 {- g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ M1 A' u e, L/ U. nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 x! C; M0 O! M! htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! N; [ j! f, M
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 l, W. d5 }, u; d) W: E4 ?working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. D. Z/ W& z3 ~7 Qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) ]" i# q7 a h U! S" R
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% J. z6 `/ R+ I6 q& V0 m) l% jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 \3 i# ?' B4 I( t
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) ]9 ]1 x6 ? P$ l8 }; r
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 {: P* ]3 T* r3 G, b' ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 C$ W! K I/ `/ E% V) d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 ?( x8 ?' O. l! }. S" Ware spaces.
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1 U$ u7 S; B( J$ q0 rThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; D" o# y" B a, W' o
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ k5 Y; k( K% u5 S( Z$ @2 H a' c5 yown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; ^* p4 k7 c) W0 C5 i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ s$ C! L2 \3 z$ P+ |
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' h5 d* N2 f& `( V, Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 @2 C1 q4 e0 a* Q9 w+ J, l
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" z0 P q% w9 t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' s( \1 Q7 [6 V7 M3 y) [. Z* I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ }8 r* C2 y" o4 F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
