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
% o+ j# u2 z! O+ i' s. tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 a# v) ]* `0 Z# I- @' A" M
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 z+ J" W/ b }% w7 L$ R
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 h! P0 I4 Z( J }2 V# Nanswers to our pointed questions.1 Z& _8 B$ x) B+ z
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," b+ L7 ~% Y; t8 a* m
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* E# w7 C8 l; }1 }3 `- e; n9 Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ z9 W: f0 I" Y( m
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 G4 U) T+ L* G( Q( S6 e" E
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( T5 i; Z" w& @4 m) e# c9 p6 z6 Nmedical schools.8 t$ Q. b6 Z; {5 m% W! m. q
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- K) l( Y% ^* k' z$ [- D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 R: w4 ~8 K0 y5 |! f
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& o- |: O+ H0 n% V6 d/ U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 W5 ?5 ~: a! c, M
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! Q4 e+ b2 n7 i; K# }8 z9 Z2 tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
. _7 W# H9 d1 @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ z4 i: A( n6 p: [7 G+ Y7 F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ m9 Q( y, B# x6 a* x& |) Tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; a: f1 p2 h; S. o8 |4 W! B* ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' v1 s0 k; b/ O" z- Q& O3 [
( l- E& L) f B# Y$ \, n4 dThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& P0 _; h8 l% x( f8 \5 w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ F' ]: ~6 s9 Q7 n" h d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, p) Q4 \1 V. n+ c6 d% e X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) J) T: `: p- j' g& I
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 F6 o. g0 ~$ w' H, ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 k2 i1 ]8 @) j1 I* B
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ F ~0 l5 ~, |; c
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ l! s! k; Z8 `/ n* a) _, o, O: Va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 I- G2 ]: [, K9 D. B4 L7 Vcharge the fee defined by the state." B# t6 t" Z u# b
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" H# V# T% S8 \0 oon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type0 W4 V k7 J4 s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! L1 h' J/ P# \& Q8 c3 s
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ ?! n2 t0 ?* V( o
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; h, b: e( a+ D: N$ X2 t* |
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& w" i+ O, `$ n; I5 M- w5 Tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" Q- s3 f5 q3 c" c( ayou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; G, y2 M; \1 }. `9 a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: c! ~. ] h+ N- E/ X! chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ b$ _8 Q) r4 w, H+ x+ B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 F# I% p | M: I7 X6 n3 v
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# ]2 E, c8 M6 q& Z" |5 j o9 V6 o! Sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 z' `+ M5 t( [& }: V/ I6 tare spaces.) q! {; H+ a% M/ n) G: G; s# F
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 n2 k: ] e' [, E5 t! `
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 R, n9 \, z. \" o( j* aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ @" T8 [# U! o, c, a; D% i& f; F40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: C* B; O& u1 a" rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 h- @' b( `$ K/ E* ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% h) G q5 Y1 U5 C/ Q+ gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 g( N) X: u: qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
: o3 y8 ^; A o" eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.$ f2 q: G# v9 B( |# S
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
