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$ V) G5 U# f. B8 M
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 T+ [# E2 d+ D0 ~/ N& @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
F' A, F& t$ C0 \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. J" G5 m7 x8 o) P$ f8 p% y$ Hanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ I- A+ j6 n2 \5 j' L; v8 A
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! D# J& ]4 h1 Q# r Y+ K+ w# p uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* S& m D. R) k# e
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) L: h. y9 K2 ~4 l1 T+ D3 ^: t9 s" K' Lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' O' _% [4 A6 V1 ? C" Q" d
medical schools.1 w( R. z/ I& P7 ~8 w& x& t
1 G4 }4 {" G# w- gEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 q }% g; M9 Q% H1 [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 A! z- e# M) P3 ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 r& K( P! w6 ]2 B5 A6 uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ p: K, ~" i3 X1 x+ [is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. T; f2 A" {; s4 d8 j+ Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 N& ~% \1 `! D9 l# J/ F& t
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' D. M9 H7 }1 l nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% x5 ]0 _0 A! r* m/ Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some* T: q6 v+ Z3 ^5 x2 D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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$ j: h8 H9 M( {% aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no B8 k. s: _, e% h& C
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# p" y6 N: N! m, \supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 r! r7 A2 I& i, i) Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 i* A' o1 o U4 w- n8 Bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% A( M7 d& C3 `8 p0 f( Asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 q8 v! b7 \- O% |
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 @: q# E' m/ h2 o* J* z& `7 m) cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" ~7 \, w" f5 B+ `! e+ X! z) n- v
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& D2 [! L" q: Y3 ^) R3 ^/ ucharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ X7 u2 I- }; C; \. [. u3 Y3 W W
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& V% {4 V' y$ Q, b. v. Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: P! X: G" {) [6 f) F/ qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 z, D$ ^$ V1 t# v1 nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 \9 q* E; o+ s8 F6 {8 Yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 o% b) ^0 B* B/ i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! ^5 G* s- O5 E2 r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, ]7 U. Q- u4 G& |8 u) g6 {3 P: {3 a. J
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ @2 E7 P+ h, |- i% z, v( C( e" l8 l3 q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 e$ f% r9 K3 F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" a; e( O; x3 s- ~) k2 {to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or: o f4 Q; E% x( C
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ x8 _+ Z' m% l- Q; l$ `are spaces.. a$ J9 p! `+ p0 a
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, v: q4 j2 Q; \# z L2 d9 w6 t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 c' i7 @1 e4 E& u
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 x+ E3 T' S* C6 K
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ f7 l2 C6 h& P* H! zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 c, a: S! [ z0 p3 x
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 A5 z! [( P1 Dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 G9 i) g6 L( m* Jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 k8 w+ t8 H# ^1 `! V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 k8 ~) }6 S! `# X$ l7 g6 {8 h We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
