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# O7 G0 |0 g; h; @2 t
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* f$ d: x) U8 j/ H6 h% Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! r9 r9 x% @* m! J% x* p; H" E
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 b) A3 k" T5 ~& S" b; @
answers to our pointed questions.
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* | ~( n4 F5 k! @ NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- g/ q+ M' [: ~6 C! B/ f( o
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& ^# H9 I: H& e ^1 W3 N( M+ V5 f' |/ Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ W# E0 E% k& w7 N; c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ U3 L; V5 |$ o# z. p" h) L/ L. P! hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 r6 U# X3 _- w" c6 K ^2 `' Z6 X: amedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 H: q( I. N8 \) ~, _) B5 n( u; cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 q ?: t/ b ?. _; Y6 T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- K' I. ?; D0 |# @& o+ Sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. q% h2 n0 W/ h! a4 N$ Eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- }( o5 x; ?4 y. Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. h' |7 @6 F3 d5 F- T. c0 {
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# e, N$ E \# T
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* o' I9 |% j9 `4 T5 z l/ fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 c; O8 H6 k, Q0 Z6 Osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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n! Q, L; {( E- x7 MThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 T+ ^9 w3 }# X( D, d; _
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- d- m0 w3 G2 h0 W) Fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 i# Q5 m9 Q. E" K8 x
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 Y1 a! K6 M' p) s' a7 p$ lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ A" z" c. D) p
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& l7 ^& P0 h0 {$ S, U& c1 I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 w/ d- s Y J: F' J3 T* E* t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, N$ e4 r. [) M4 _! a' a* s
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ z- N5 o) {. U2 O1 T6 fcharge the fee defined by the state.
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* T- L8 H: ?) F& n* SThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# g! a4 _: `3 R$ m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 H% J; i$ m( Z4 a* K' N! j* c7 ~* r2 Gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, y/ T7 Z7 P S7 H9 `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 f- Z" {: k/ {; t" H. S! rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% O- K2 Z, y( {# |working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 g2 k0 p$ ?' I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if* {. f' Q) }9 l( }% v5 M: {
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people }$ ^5 {3 e. v0 H) \
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* N; Y2 J: O/ I/ }) s$ t7 }hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) B1 |8 }( A3 M9 s9 e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- h7 g2 t- w$ c: }9 u. V' {
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, m8 Y7 Z4 ^8 M7 C1 x* |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( p- X8 J( i- ?) A6 _
are spaces.- v) c5 _+ m8 Q$ h) G
3 A- y; t. @5 J3 e% K5 O5 y1 uThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# r6 u F2 }4 x/ g# Q+ b+ ^* z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, C, F$ U6 ]0 ~" @5 f# f& Town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; l; \1 e5 t1 Z3 R' F
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" b* e+ L* u5 @' Iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, N/ I% {; ` s( `
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* X+ G, `* I: ]& \4 u4 a, m4 Vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" @9 ]6 z' g; g: m$ r0 ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: m0 B* T: G% S( x% |, Y+ `* T- |: i
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. Z0 e" y% @: E# U" `* X: F% L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
