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
- T6 p; z( u! o' P6 V) q3 hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ i4 b: R9 m7 {# f6 f
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 ~+ j/ U1 c* t
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# p# `% {7 D& Nanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* B& U: _3 z( T) @" E' k2 q4 w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
' w) p6 @$ }- O, N$ h6 nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. e' z( d9 H- Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" {) Q8 `8 V7 Y$ oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# P6 u# v! G" T5 h J; Q# ~# Zmedical schools.) k+ [$ O8 H2 h1 y; ~
' W( `) R) ^9 h3 p( _Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" Q- E+ z$ k/ L- Xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: n! `$ W3 y4 T+ e4 W2 sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 Z8 k' h6 g: k, X: o- b' i
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% K- C; j. a- c- E4 `is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; X$ i8 ^' p+ a; y' S" X+ i) z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) T5 }0 h) Q1 Q# B" K
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and V! l6 Q! K. l5 @' u
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: h' l/ | m& t& G1 P
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 j5 m: A6 r M Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 _" Z+ ~1 E, N. f7 P9 o, _' M
: @* f$ J7 R( d+ `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ \, e2 V% T \4 c& z5 Uprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 d* q' i. D: ~0 Osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; P% k7 a8 i Z7 ~( ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 y0 @; ?, h+ d9 a' K9 Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; h$ h9 r/ P) t5 C5 U U( ^0 F# ~
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" Z9 {" b' h1 P
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' ?* h2 c4 Q! e
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 U9 N& ^& g) [+ J' Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 C$ k9 o9 Q* X0 \9 ]$ Jcharge the fee defined by the state.: o* ?0 T; ~! j& `
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 T1 V& V/ ^7 f3 _
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, ?6 b3 V6 V. o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" J; Y4 q8 x1 v: K/ ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# C! [8 a8 v6 k8 m r8 K+ c7 j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* Z, T6 k& O4 r qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 z9 t C. S" Z7 j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% w6 M( {8 ]& O, j* j. S5 F
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: j9 {' L& f# @ atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; A/ F+ D* e* l4 } u# \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 e3 {/ O# C7 N# q. f6 G6 Vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; b) p1 B% _/ A* E+ C! l
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; ?, v4 d' G9 g: U# N, Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ p, G* M% b, O0 Z8 T
are spaces.5 o) W( K4 Q" }! ?# c$ R
; g5 g$ e. k" x+ V% Z) Q- {There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* h' b6 q) K2 U) e, W" c q+ w# ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 g0 Z; z) U7 @! `) C Wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& _+ X7 {' R& ` B9 @1 E- P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: K; e% i3 V3 l* z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) U# s4 `' p5 o# A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ \" h2 b! D2 d# @nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 ?4 K+ z: Z3 T' L) [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& r2 W5 d a2 ^% p) Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 @% y$ A! m" I) P, K- P4 G We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
