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! q; X% W O, `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- j9 O5 F r0 N9 f, @8 jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
( z+ ~5 f* v: l"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 r) l- S3 e7 D) y
answers to our pointed questions.
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3 o+ z; \3 \3 u# I7 ~) F2 X) zThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! k+ z! {* h3 {7 [+ K45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; d( V0 G8 Y7 L; w$ `out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ F! a; n, n' k7 m) ~" Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. E- ]5 l& M* j4 S# p: W; `to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- e$ y) R3 a9 y) N+ t; v$ b
medical schools.
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4 ]) z' q) o. u. n3 sEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" _1 J" g. R: p' R) ?government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, W! h+ U7 X0 O4 [/ {to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ E3 \! d# g2 Z* a
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: m0 j1 {% O+ ]" a1 D- j* O, k
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! y" a( {- |! B7 W) }/ L8 K8 cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' P$ F- A8 h9 J% m! `5 |# P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& ^) b; j5 D8 K/ ~* zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 A/ Y& s; n1 Q5 M. `9 ~0 l
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ G0 A5 x0 T6 Z4 }1 ~sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., U* v% v# d B
3 q# w3 t3 i* O+ o4 g9 wThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
w9 }! u O! N+ F4 b6 kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 S- @1 `) M- ~! M4 S+ nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 n& t+ \* }# y6 l4 P" J7 H, whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# c; e* j' `6 P+ r+ T4 w
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! k9 c! \( M$ w. T" S- Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 ?; _. V: C9 d, I4 }0 F
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ ?! g2 h7 `- J4 a$ l) rDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; ~ q9 c0 b) C1 M2 }3 Oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 a" ]+ U9 h* \0 h$ m; Bcharge the fee defined by the state. E+ {0 s& S2 o5 y, w" Q9 C0 h
3 B. I3 w( O1 dThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' T/ M) Z+ x! f6 Gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: G P2 G; C9 e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' V7 W" ]. F$ E5 R3 n/ P" I
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 y7 l' G) D6 X# ?3 x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 D( a! J2 l" [# x9 y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 m; L6 \' L y) ^5 D0 v
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 O1 K1 P l* d( U/ myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, ]. g- V+ q4 g5 K. u. S4 P) z8 X1 R' wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: }9 |/ e1 V/ A; x' T. R' }+ T" }, B
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 O, k' C& [( A9 E9 [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
. E& j6 L9 f9 d* W4 Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 m/ L' a* j' F D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% @. n$ |! m8 Y( E- U1 j; C+ |
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ }) O+ m6 T; Y v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' `' g: R% t& b7 ]) E( `" uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
) ]6 x7 i$ H; u, R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different {! @1 h0 v$ I- w7 O' |
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) e( F; k0 J5 {% n1 nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 \/ I) h# L6 g: N
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 e: C% t7 H' |+ o
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 c4 s1 A- \2 N$ N3 W6 d1 i
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, [7 ], ~! e8 @. E/ t+ D We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
