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" `! ?0 j# Q" E% O6 R3 l5 ?
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ k# ?, D4 m) W" o' l7 Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ Q: h( w+ X) c, W5 G"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
8 B& R. ~' c6 ?8 a6 `7 U1 Panswers to our pointed questions.
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9 _# b" | G, |1 oThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; I" T* P* h4 h! b' k! W1 f& e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% m5 N. I c& T! m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ ` Z+ h' S a
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
c3 p8 x9 e) X& \7 y! a4 Wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# e! C- W' ^, N
medical schools.
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% N) Q, L1 R2 k% `9 yEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 c z4 B: q! n4 |" N- C
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& `" \! D9 J" f- T3 L1 ]4 o
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ |7 c5 S/ ]3 b N
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 R" I4 i5 F/ q* E/ S) W$ T* _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% A7 X8 Z) X5 K5 `5 v! R
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 e& p6 w" d) O' |. T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' F8 z& P+ J* B+ \) _6 E2 r* }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 ?6 `6 R L/ e5 ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 b7 K) z+ J/ F! v$ U4 f" _; bsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% b$ L9 D( X( E0 E3 _. p" u( q2 T
6 i3 z' B8 `7 {, A4 Q) |. y+ XThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, ]' s% U& E% B3 {* S; a+ R- x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 e9 R# J6 c4 X3 ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 W% n9 s3 F8 y1 Q: vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( Q: J* A1 }$ l: n; e/ f- kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 k8 D9 a7 Z, V' \ Jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
% p% n7 _) x8 j, `divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) m( V0 c4 z7 ]& cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 O* M. K/ z' E5 `
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) g8 `8 y( z* z5 O' Ncharge the fee defined by the state.& D. v7 _+ J: L7 w
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ d& W+ M P' I* w& \/ v' K5 I; c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- p9 \. S: @5 E: ~' l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* h9 A0 X- |" p6 n5 p& Z+ V
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# M# e( O8 T A- ]" P
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the P3 w3 H% X8 ]& P7 ^/ |- S
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 _; |3 Y: i5 I& x& n: q2 w4 qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, u' r* O* H) D0 l) {. N1 V+ e9 o) [
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& Q; v6 z/ G8 N( v
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 o% O( Q. W/ D, e5 L6 \
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; q1 S; k4 ~* g9 u! l1 jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 L' ~/ p$ A6 H" e3 [! |
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# _9 a- W9 f, y: @2 ]* Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
0 Z& ~: r" J6 E v- p7 Jare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- u1 c8 Y- R1 s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 f$ h$ x! ]/ O- S |* E8 rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( _3 ~ k- l: k6 d0 m4 U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ d: t* w4 H; j1 [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ T& g m1 K/ {+ ]0 H
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: h. V) \$ A0 X d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
w7 T0 j' h! M, |% Ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it [; F$ D) s$ \& V) G ^
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: ]+ I A9 s& `3 _. C
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
