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
5 Z9 k# r9 T( z1 Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went5 |7 D t e; e, G4 \2 K+ a
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 _" X% D: {$ t1 X4 M
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: ]. e' ]' k# L" uanswers to our pointed questions.
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+ c* K) S$ b# c8 p6 @4 @The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ x3 ^3 v. k2 Z. ]( ]! _9 D! ~
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( B) W. Z1 C7 }$ {
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 I$ U( g9 z+ O$ A: l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
@0 t) W6 l7 g0 K$ B6 d! ^: E. C3 Q* ito get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' x/ \- H. u: Y: i% n: g8 M2 {# y5 l) K4 \
medical schools." |% V$ g3 f( {
" o5 P2 F% ~( H5 N0 Q8 \/ \- NEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 T2 h( p# R, t# x- x% y- Z0 @5 V5 O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) Z: f) ]5 H& G. w, ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, k4 c( R; l J; h& Tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% c I6 Q) z1 }, h$ k- Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 o; P) O6 q$ o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 F6 [ O$ L: Y: O/ n
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 r( L% A" V1 D+ [% h& Nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" C* m) C9 s- e- Q+ m" Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some S1 G& |9 @ c+ u/ H! y1 W5 B! R. Q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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: l# Q/ ]. i" z8 qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) z: V6 @: R$ v' b# Zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* ]8 j! e2 l5 Q5 z: Y! qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 }' F8 i: W! r& j/ A- I6 j
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* }+ W! D; ?0 hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ R4 A0 Y2 }1 z9 c9 ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" o* `/ u- f, M7 R: P8 m' Wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- Q U. i, b# T' f; M. V
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; u( i. G1 O" S$ w! _" ]
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. y) }) T/ o p* t8 P v. @
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
) d5 A9 q6 E5 M) m. fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! C7 H+ t7 d3 h- W2 j: N) x
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' u9 I) a, E/ \$ D- O# J, r( s4 U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& ~6 M8 P: Q/ n5 P
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 r6 H) }* x. `1 H2 ]1 M9 O0 mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 f9 Z3 p' I; N# l0 B& Hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: Q: w" _: q9 nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 z3 S6 B+ Z/ `: ~
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# N- X, o$ c0 _, Q4 A. }5 K+ c7 _
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ u/ {$ l0 x' v2 C) Y0 z, Z* jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. E: O9 q$ w: s6 Y' F* G* o# r1 z* y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# j8 b. W: R8 X0 d. a$ f
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& v' ^5 H3 R. R" f: q" \
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! R! \5 x. K, Q' y4 {to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! e' P' r, s; |' N& [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 L4 C+ i# g) ~1 G. a6 S4 v40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 F( f. n) |0 |' v& u, Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# G, u" r. q, e; D: C3 `# W* Obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" ], L8 b5 K( J+ I# e* D& v( }4 c- ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 n( N5 x! w9 \/ [/ K$ Ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) u7 P& I: u6 W6 s0 X+ i* a% bis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- A6 U: h% m: i3 k We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
