我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 y4 q4 }' h, ?# q' V5 |4 `' n# R
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 U2 O3 f; |$ g( Z0 f. }) j# }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
( q0 G, `- c: B& b"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ ?8 w; } j. w9 x
answers to our pointed questions.
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5 r! S, {0 _; A% D4 g" T. gThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 y* x' h3 a$ \# A) {+ i% u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% s# @: p" T# Y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' E( z- q; Z3 [. Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( a* E! G: V3 D: a/ E& S
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* N' a2 M C$ B) [6 ]- V
medical schools.0 D. z% H. {4 c1 D R; m
, ?- C! S& B3 _: D4 L7 I5 kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ {( n8 {! q$ `# m" b4 I' Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants B" m; s# r& y0 F
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, Y! f( m+ m* k) t! c3 n. s
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 l( ^0 Z7 N. f9 `
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
d. \! a: q! k/ Gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- O+ Z: O& \" g. c0 c
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
l3 W- W$ G* w) C/ Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 R2 l9 g* ~* g: Ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some' Z: }4 j8 d2 |* c; g7 k9 k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., E* U6 ?% H7 Z3 q# ?
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% c& X+ m2 j9 ]* E* v( |/ I/ F
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 L4 {1 @/ _9 U0 q7 u& n4 B
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! a6 i- ^: H( ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: G# H) h e( r5 W+ A0 uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& f7 I/ B) {2 @/ V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
9 E1 s: _* d, M. @; d& pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." s5 k9 n0 e/ m2 R) @5 V$ }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! ?8 ]; G1 O) k; D9 g. ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 D" m! i$ |% ]- z9 }
charge the fee defined by the state.
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0 Y! Y7 e# l% q: e7 W! t! Z1 r @There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 M$ t, j: a& V5 V6 b- Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& _7 E. E: |9 l( @of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" m$ V( y9 l- d# Etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* r) {- v v6 ^# [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
c9 p8 }) b1 l" G! U$ X/ F; jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: r. e0 g: W9 B0 B$ x1 a# q6 [) Zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( [4 g8 R9 E" \0 j
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; F) H. U6 o' D* Ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 j, Q$ G' E2 z$ o" Q% {) s4 Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! C" X" z( l- o. p$ w0 _1 b7 rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* i9 f& A. e m1 |: {
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 Q1 e! Q0 h. F1 Y- Z- T! [; h) Obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
N# T- n" [( Pare spaces.1 E& {+ D. E7 m' p
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. [7 B, \$ S% l+ l# E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 j% E J) z, f1 S
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& }& ~: _5 o1 o- h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
( M2 J* `+ {5 G$ P4 tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 i7 _8 Y& F. L, ^4 m) L4 Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ {" A; L" r+ o
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! L( h* r7 j% M9 ~9 e" t5 B+ _% T1 lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- V; `% M- C" w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) C& y4 e- q( q. v
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
