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; h/ `. C6 u. i; g3 o T, u* s
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 S- U5 y% o+ k. p. Von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. T+ d1 `0 l* s: H x9 V9 {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' T5 ^& R' w6 { e, _
answers to our pointed questions.& S [$ L, B, A7 v" @$ o
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, y$ F6 _2 a: ~ I4 v45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 z. J) Q5 y( T+ \5 n) }0 Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* d+ w/ G5 X. d0 [* q# x$ c. t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 p x) \# W+ nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" l2 j" Y, ~ h( P/ tmedical schools.2 v% B/ A( a, M
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ |7 X. Q: m# }! C
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% A @; |. t0 F$ ~1 D
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 A( ~' y- a* D# A5 j$ X; ]$ x- r+ dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; b: L; s( F1 j% j# s. j, _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, y) G# H: e0 Y" E" {+ U+ Bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ t" U* X2 W3 J# ]$ a' ^( m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ f4 a b" @8 ?% \2 j, T1 |# D% { P- hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* ~5 F" P2 ]1 ^) w2 S/ G4 P8 t9 jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 Q; I5 W* z9 v1 T$ \2 {! z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; x8 g, b9 Z0 f7 T) C: Y
4 I! O4 y3 C5 E I4 `; i: |! ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no+ ^6 k4 v8 w' L$ U$ a5 x) p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% I9 E% a) J2 F3 [0 `$ \
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: L, t; m$ h& O$ K5 @' c k: shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 r, ~$ p7 t1 A) o7 q+ |6 `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# T, B& a8 l3 g, c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 B. x1 }0 k6 g9 C1 e/ x
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. L/ H: A4 d. \3 d [9 Y: F+ G
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 r5 E/ c% l/ n
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
- M( W- Z3 Y6 d* l: W* I+ gcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 X: V* h! R, aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ }3 J/ d* t V; `( c
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 h6 H5 ~ H& i' W+ E( Htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: G& f y, p# H7 Rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% P, a: U. P& D' U2 {& j" G0 L
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 a# r, M- \' J, Z+ Rschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if# ~& H2 e* i' Q1 d0 ^7 S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) A2 @5 j6 ]( |8 x
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. s. m4 O! o$ }7 S9 d1 a% a; {4 mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" }7 Y" M3 w2 [# y( rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 u; a: r1 P; s' u7 dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or g2 f R5 o g4 l/ y/ z: `
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. J' `/ ^* s# w- G( A5 M2 O2 w4 dare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) |, S, K q: Z- o# a kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 Y: l2 N7 V# }) R* h9 d
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; p2 ^2 c5 p7 _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 c- T: j4 G9 pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 I' P6 A) a' U& ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
f: @( z8 X* B) ]; x! wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# j$ j1 g+ w; G: F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 i5 E6 A# F* ]& D8 O
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 B( u6 B+ w! L( A7 ^1 Z" k: o We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
