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; I# K8 h6 n9 z0 \3 z2 a6 m* d/ F. c
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( `2 V. g* j7 B, fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 J, B' w$ x7 R* p5 n1 d; Q, {/ Z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" I' j- p- z8 canswers to our pointed questions.& G" x8 e$ c; `& ^, ~& c
, g$ T* p6 p) ?" v: K. HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* }0 o2 K* T1 x4 D! m/ l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! r- K( E* x' l8 T# D; |. U5 |
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 F# I. K# e' D; c! sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 p( _ ^' E6 [( S
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ S! d9 I* T G j1 f
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* q& @$ ?8 g- p3 _4 c) a; w; Zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 x% B2 G' n9 Z7 H# _! g- Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 i0 q# |* @$ h! x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ l) z( O' |+ U$ c& w
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: V: n0 s% U$ k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% C8 s* {0 a( Z" { l
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* f/ K; {1 t& q! f9 ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* Q: c+ [* L5 G+ u) H/ {shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; Q- [' j% L8 g% T; [- ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 d* H/ J8 o+ k+ q7 y. _
0 N8 `+ O: B) b5 J& rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ |; u' N$ p8 b, e5 R2 k a
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 ^) \+ J" L( ?1 h- m! S: C- I+ b; ~
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 B4 {7 l9 @3 k5 I5 P% s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: b9 p! i, }+ Z+ Zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- m( _$ M% `; E4 p+ a1 T; isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. @+ Q! m5 B: `. l0 I" W% g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 s: @- T) p5 ]3 H7 @. Z2 Y) C; i8 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 z- n6 q7 |' y4 Y. ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& L% C9 a- ~. I- Lcharge the fee defined by the state.
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/ }) H8 j5 u2 r5 @0 g2 U! Q, YThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 M3 G7 c% G) t4 ^3 J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 c8 n" Y w) X" ?of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- U4 e6 F/ n* s# H, r7 rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 e7 T- l0 M2 t3 i- i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* D. ?, o+ C5 G. x9 X8 oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 O: q: B( H- B
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ y7 }8 H4 r" h) a/ U9 H9 t. w3 V2 y$ L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- [$ Y; l7 {! O1 u: ?; G5 ~
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 v: g8 r8 M2 n4 q5 F% w7 T( Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 f; A6 A1 O g6 O6 ?8 |9 ]& cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" o# Q; x$ N9 {) G
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! s% P$ S1 L& L! f2 ? qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' E: q+ Z: ~7 ~# q0 u. ^2 @
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 {9 O: y; ~2 |9 kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: ~6 p' u$ N' h7 g2 ]4 K5 Q/ R$ z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& M9 J0 @/ O i: p% ]' X40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different8 q! ^1 _9 x$ J; `- H1 `1 x) Q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
s& v( n: Z3 `+ z, Tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; D3 I C j1 \2 w7 n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
/ h5 l7 n, y+ G' F) F8 k# m, Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ B* W) _) W8 |0 N* A
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( G* D+ r. Y* r9 p6 @" T, } We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
