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/ G& R% W# i" } M$ `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% O4 E6 K0 Y" T, f K$ Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) @9 [; ~( W }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
- s4 {% g/ F/ R, k p' Kanswers to our pointed questions.) n, E6 w5 ^5 p
8 R0 z- k' s1 Q1 u: A n
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& L* X, k& M6 F& S5 U. ]* H45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, v3 H, ~; B9 S1 c7 xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* y, M8 ?: U4 U5 W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ ^' p T' l) q, i) n, ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 {2 C( P3 _; }3 J. v# tmedical schools.
? @) w# T$ S$ ]8 G! m
# r: ~! ]% ]: `$ t* ?Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 b* M& {8 k. d3 x' [' Igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" q6 g3 j: z7 S1 L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ ], r% W0 x. O# v4 Z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. j8 Y4 x9 k4 m/ B- Z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! w& n2 _+ {: B! v1 ?
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 |! R% v3 T+ |( q( p9 U. ~seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 L1 i5 M b+ M( Amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
- {5 c# T1 q2 C2 w0 F* @% _8 @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) G: j$ U6 ]0 T- [. A3 Q& V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
F$ |/ ^# } e6 U5 ^3 M8 k& N5 m5 R8 s
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. m; Q- O0 M5 E; c; \private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& x( A" a" A, o: y8 x3 I
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ K+ J0 [: t% \ a6 z' f
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* `1 t: y7 S* y6 i$ ]thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ M0 w: V ]3 F2 j8 g
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 P) g+ f- j! X6 L7 q! ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. c4 N2 R, x+ k" Q: T: v
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 d5 R/ |, v+ J; _5 L( f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, v2 h. x+ x! d' a1 gcharge the fee defined by the state.
# S# K" W! U& \+ r8 ~5 U4 C( u+ @( e, s( y/ h
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ H5 f" l* W5 m3 }' |$ B
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) g9 x* N# O& s. ~
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& T) Y3 X/ O. j) X, z, H
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; U% p) N: V2 k0 S- i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* [4 c& r: A, `1 L/ A# @' x
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: u% Z E5 V3 r9 nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& d3 Y; D' R! q9 Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# H/ }% ]( c+ f2 S" g
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, }" I' U$ z2 |7 V% n' p: n. Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' n- l& G7 s8 x9 U
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" i2 j. L" C: ]; Ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 `: ?- i4 O8 o( g5 l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) v$ Q0 m4 J2 B, }( {1 l9 Sare spaces.# u6 i! }: y- {+ [- n: G$ z5 Z5 Y o* y
) b; U+ h) O9 f% g6 p2 e Q: OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" \0 A. j+ Q* |& g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 t+ q% u) l! A! }6 b# sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. H7 D: B$ [5 z: _" s) u( [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 I7 Z- x4 r$ c/ f* N7 x
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# g3 q) T" k9 F* v* ~3 Ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 K3 E, T$ Z; q0 s
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 C1 C9 M) L9 Q! v( ]( X& `car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% M! t0 l s; W3 t+ P& ^0 q0 uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 _/ Z! H2 Y( o1 Z* s" u1 {! I3 v7 J We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
