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 b0 ]7 i7 R* A$ j: a! k. n
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 v2 v' N. H* X7 z1 @3 h8 h% @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 e; q* h! h k/ {! ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
8 s5 r% _/ Q5 g0 m* [" Danswers to our pointed questions.2 O6 t& V( y; P2 F* |2 k
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" J+ x# O9 X6 |8 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 }" h% w5 B4 | {6 j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- Y2 J; V$ B/ h- T3 x: x% K, n3 D, k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
6 t' Y7 r. C; u8 Pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% |# I1 i8 e+ j4 o h
medical schools.$ j' u9 y4 n& g) [5 ]: l& N
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the N9 w" ~1 ~6 s5 S. n5 O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ F, e2 A% E! E# Qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 A+ F$ D9 b9 d7 A* M, X
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& O- x6 M; j# Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 H1 l/ U& t" U( R( ^6 r" oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- y9 Y) R" e3 M8 J2 v) }+ a6 f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ U3 B9 Y7 `: G* X- w, D) ^* E& Nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
- O9 }8 `" j) ^- T. m0 fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# i, V9 D5 ?. t0 e) M) V2 ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ {3 a7 ~- K& W2 v% ]' ?. uprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ [) ]3 n2 h8 r0 |9 Wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 B. w9 _4 l' z) K$ M7 ^ Y$ n0 i
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ W0 X& m$ @1 g! Q/ h+ Q) [4 ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ V+ o; [4 h8 m# W4 Y0 U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. w2 ~! ?- X$ n6 c1 B, E$ ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 W( ~/ ]) u4 \1 |Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: e! G6 ?, E9 c! v- Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* w0 L* ^' _; x! x' o5 mcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, f* n1 E. R# r- O. Aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; c6 m# S' U( p/ j& s3 m! G+ L- D5 `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" n6 A. V/ T0 ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 O2 c c t! W( ~. Q6 P9 L& y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* H' _3 M1 `) X o) ^4 x; cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. F: f- n$ Q+ H0 i% [: j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- i0 Q& b8 N Eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. @# b; M: s; F" h! ~, G4 R1 c
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 ~9 k& O5 F( T4 Yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
5 _9 Y; u) K" n: Upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: G7 x5 x h) i0 ?% _6 qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* z3 J9 d" s G3 e8 ^0 k7 W
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% o8 w: ~7 [! M1 J3 ]are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) x; e4 f# u9 m: \" `( C$ \& A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 v' ~! Y% r, Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 m+ `2 u/ z, r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ E* _$ B8 P m. \- l8 \+ Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' a% a6 v! \8 h6 @% U' z& k7 ?' u% e% U3 hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( F4 F+ z& Q& }) wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 M, w" R3 l/ F' |" E
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
: V" B; \' Q1 m/ ~: h" I' jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 K! _9 p P) q5 F8 I2 H! t& G! ^7 M We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
