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! K9 Z6 z: x- a* s( b( i
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 z+ X# k+ s- C( m4 ?! Q# t% m/ R* Yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) O" A4 o+ ?# R6 F" {. \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, c/ C( _, C1 R& u) ^answers to our pointed questions.+ q2 d6 y+ K1 o! ~9 Z6 U/ C
- U$ D0 w" g5 c6 ]: Z3 w% R2 QThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: Q5 ?$ d' G3 [! j' E/ a% N; a45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: C6 A' y% ^% c3 hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
# n% Q6 y6 D, }& y5 e7 Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( z1 h% H% |8 {to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& c' Y' D& h; { `
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 o& t3 N$ O' y5 h) v) C) r6 Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 A# \' r, m5 Z8 h
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 r$ Z6 T% v" w0 ~* ]
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: ]* o( h/ I6 p
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# P+ D! ]$ L/ x2 b% [* j q" R
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 q$ ?2 n1 R k( C! ~5 yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ y$ f& Z {/ K' s3 Smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 M# d5 v3 c6 [$ m' a
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 u4 |5 C2 n$ w) ~6 ~
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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B& x: d$ m; }4 r9 z6 ~1 u( JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. u& f, _, x1 h: |' E+ Zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. z; S: Z( M+ }( j5 m4 o# Rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( O& q- W- H) T2 V4 G; p6 A8 ^7 r; rhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 F" N* v6 Z) H" o: Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. }( B4 v/ y1 m! u
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: E. [: ~+ w n6 y3 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 S# ^1 u ?4 Q4 ^$ d2 ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 G9 c% Y% C4 F; T% |& ^a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, T+ V* o" e5 L4 z jcharge the fee defined by the state.
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/ v7 r! g3 A& h2 }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 z4 G/ [9 C6 N& x0 x0 H4 D+ C
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 V( Y) [( W. M; a- J0 y: m4 o. dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; T' U2 y4 `% {* s
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 I1 y' P0 Z8 S. @. a- Oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" A: V7 c- e) `5 \& oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! ?9 x0 x; b3 {; D, r3 U# p2 M2 Oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% a$ ]$ d7 R2 K) h- y4 Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. j# w D& t6 z1 I6 o
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 `- K3 A: J; \3 o
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* ?/ Y" }5 b7 T! I1 K
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) Q+ T5 Z* A2 v* S/ F c7 D- {, ?
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& D! s; A2 }2 _: V, j% l' _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 @6 \2 h, o# j2 v4 J" x4 jare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 D% ]+ q W% J, }6 R7 J7 ]3 f
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; Y* z7 n$ e) A! Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, ]& S; `4 A5 m9 F- l% J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( S" q7 q& s( @; l8 s' X3 d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' H0 P4 d; m* \best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 m" q- c& r$ E$ A' w# k
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ p$ D8 \9 x- E% a
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# ~* x* Y( g. {, P* b7 p# h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! F$ \4 D# G( C. f) M. R6 k
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
