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. e; {" L7 D% R+ A$ |+ \: z, Y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) y3 j [- _4 ]4 v
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 f0 b9 [( {; M7 `"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( Y, c( c& ?" O' H0 i! fanswers to our pointed questions.% P) t% ?7 ]+ l! [6 k
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
h; x [6 F) `, r45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; T Y# c; H9 o: r9 o
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# n, b: {) ?5 j( z" S
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( q. ~7 f5 i+ f2 x; j4 B3 Z( ]to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 C3 k7 u" {! ?- nmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, F# s" J+ N u$ s( y/ R8 ~
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. |$ w2 ^" d+ `4 r! G
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 m6 s4 r: q- V7 nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( W2 u; v b& d/ X# ?) B5 T! T6 q p
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: ]$ S( a! H5 A T I. u- C Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, `8 v: d2 S1 \# h3 e" Rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% m* o) [; W. E9 R* n3 z( @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 p$ @1 C* ]0 A) r4 G( I* j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) f4 X" M( r. o6 t6 b/ @1 Q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ W3 v r3 D1 x1 o
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; u g1 d' L% ^5 e
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ ?$ g1 M# {4 H5 ^
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
p% }$ @# {0 w* i! Q7 |thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! ^$ k: |7 }7 R2 L+ W* D
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- G! O6 R. W/ R: U5 |
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 ^% X# U5 {: I& i. }- u y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
' J3 x* \% j0 z J- Ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
" Z( y! R( L+ ~5 v/ Kcharge the fee defined by the state.2 d5 V. X1 S' L
0 q2 s# V o5 @8 E% E6 k) |! XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( f* p0 r1 _5 Y, J1 w! z0 c# hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type0 L: y6 M: h- H$ d0 X
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( o, b+ O8 j+ Y5 Etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# [8 c5 I0 l2 tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' o. k- l% i& m5 ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 n) U9 _: O$ Q' _- A* g. P- Tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ t- J0 K' `/ {" }0 D/ Myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 u5 T0 w" Q$ ~: }, ^% k- K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; o- }( Q2 D5 c9 O* k5 vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 m7 {& [3 H/ V) f- f
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 z+ r6 h3 }1 \0 e2 Cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ j* t( [" f# F& r/ Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 ^4 ~8 m- _% l/ N0 W5 Kare spaces.& Z+ l$ K( z, E' ~
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
4 i2 A2 C: i5 Q; l) I& B; G \# Rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; H' W4 p: B* v [' G8 S% R& [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# j0 e/ Y2 E' s* r2 n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
3 s# h: q2 C$ {( N. ~4 Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 b) w P5 y2 a4 q+ _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- C) ]( o/ a1 |- ]1 H3 C& A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) v5 z, X" n5 ]6 d8 u Tcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, s$ z1 b$ V+ u& b3 [is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.$ i* y4 q) G. ]: B
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
