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) j5 H, O' @' d% S& s$ J
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, [" S8 c, o" L8 n% U# e/ S' r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# E7 [$ a, |: A"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
' @7 }* I3 q! Panswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
F4 f& }: r9 i% Y! g45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: F% u$ C1 a% `! R5 ?8 X7 wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# l7 _5 U/ e# Y8 B7 M5 _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# I0 N: W8 N) u- ^" h9 w4 B t
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 j) j p' C, d4 h
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% K* u$ z3 r% ` z) j. f' O$ j
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: M9 \; @5 q2 \7 yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) y& g, _7 y1 a8 c4 O' @$ [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; E( F( V9 F4 F2 M8 |% N$ [
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* r) e4 j& r/ F/ R2 n* r+ \/ K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" {1 C8 r; x+ M L, j% V9 B" K/ l& mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# f r3 k2 e7 Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 A0 R$ b" n E0 Dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 q1 g8 H* }5 M4 j1 J# y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 d8 ^# ~1 y" ` z
. {8 L$ G7 b. X6 y# h2 m. r, ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) i* E% m7 ]) V/ J8 zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ k+ R- \ c6 @# E* O2 Y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
_0 `- V* N5 g+ W Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ w: `9 m3 w9 }7 X! Tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( k) [+ ~, y3 J/ O% F6 xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 y9 e* | ^; M! t- U& O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 h( |# u9 y1 u+ Q5 P" u2 ^
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 s* q7 s$ ?; r6 i* E4 s" |
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; }1 l, n5 B. `
charge the fee defined by the state.
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3 \: V: L, D0 i& ^9 U' ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( l! Q9 b0 Y9 I! B' H; g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) o* f3 w8 g* c/ h M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
$ q/ D1 b. q: ]1 P8 n) ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 a9 P a) Z7 V1 Iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* T* A9 P2 ?. x0 G7 E0 lworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ m H! e# d6 ~
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 i! L* N# y; g
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 a, B4 Z% e0 `+ ~: U6 p6 w, Htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 r. j" M( O( P$ z/ I, r$ k
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. E2 | m: l0 K" {$ o6 k3 x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want! {: x# ~! I/ Q" n. @& M8 t% h; e! @: U
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 B$ w$ u9 J% Fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ V7 m2 h6 b* Z0 w* r1 ]are spaces.$ v' s; g! {6 r& j- v( W7 [- F
5 x5 `8 I! c0 M2 D' Q7 v1 oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ u# m. W& e: M, }+ H- Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. Q$ N1 s2 Z1 u& l: Y$ f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' }/ L/ M+ ?# H/ W6 b% x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& Q7 \3 X2 h) R6 l1 k8 s* Y. J6 Q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' Q: L& g' T" n* H4 y( j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 X, N$ y S h6 m
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 f. S8 K, w( \' s5 [' A4 Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 Y; Z4 {/ r4 r$ _7 v; n! W. ?; h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ b8 G- }) K( Q" t+ ^7 u1 j; k We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
