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( m$ e* y) s* ^. A; |
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 p' R$ w0 z/ E# y4 Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 S$ t# T, L# B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. P8 a0 T/ W* ?( ^2 D9 Y ~' C8 Ranswers to our pointed questions. U" D( a0 p. S" V
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. o4 W/ F1 [# r) H2 k r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 E# c6 H" k t! f9 p( X( V0 |out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, J- l( y8 \1 Q3 H: hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 w9 G: _1 C5 K" F# C3 q8 Oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 Q7 X" M: A: i6 n$ R2 Z& ~
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& P6 [& l& Q) C1 R9 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ E( n1 `- g& }& wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 p. J# A- y- S8 H0 v- c: E) Z5 J6 eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- B: V+ h. c! i: ^8 t. C8 pis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
+ F+ c5 J+ I3 a3 W6 m" Q( E- L! d8 s: @over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' t' Z4 D! P7 C8 S# S r9 Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 x+ p$ j" M9 U' O# Bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- q# K. B/ b: a" v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 \9 _7 J, B, ]' w% C3 psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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8 ^3 [8 i8 j- K: iThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# l" t3 I2 @) N, ~9 G0 [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( ?" l8 c- @5 |% _% i# e1 D/ U1 h" t$ \
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people X! R8 S+ @' B& C( _
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: g) E. h) t2 O/ X! E2 ]* uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& x+ L% s7 k3 y# G+ A- U! Z1 ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 g9 n9 @: }; |0 n/ R$ Y. E
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: K2 j* {3 j8 l6 B2 Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 [: \6 e7 ?) W* w( B% l0 T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% X1 W% ]& g1 y; d: w9 Ncharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( M8 }0 V/ t: ?* F2 N5 S5 won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
% B1 S2 e* C/ a, zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 J. ]% L4 d0 ^# W7 Z$ v/ f9 _2 D0 J% D
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" e; e: O+ V8 D% W& Y9 d9 U! Mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& @& O# w- N0 [4 C- O3 `- ^working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
/ U* E' Q- E X9 O9 p0 ]schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 `7 ]6 M, k: {7 tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 F `: ^8 G7 t! t/ itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: D' T- ?# d6 ^: G2 b; U
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% S! _: ~. r0 R5 k1 l8 dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 n4 r* u" B/ K- M4 L7 kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" e4 z* _3 s. u1 T' d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 a* N; s% x2 H" s2 ? A' n9 H9 R3 x
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; ~' @0 n3 z! G% n
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! v5 [9 D, _4 J" S7 E# `9 y- }
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 ^$ p* f* B3 j; q5 N5 M
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; ~6 @, o( n9 S1 i, g) v$ M6 Z( [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, R: A3 f; {& L; l
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( P0 u. @$ k l' O! o# ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: ]" {/ m1 H2 J# X5 V/ W; ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; r1 `9 B1 N/ y% pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, t; b2 D9 R2 u6 }9 ~ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
