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
" L! b. h; W: h6 d6 w% x) k7 F4 {standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ I( L9 f; `5 y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 P# |* E9 n& p) C- Z$ j
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 z: M/ h& ]0 Z) _' K. g3 `
answers to our pointed questions.9 f. Z6 L6 J$ ?( q7 r, N
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 F0 s1 _6 [" h0 ~$ Y. P0 u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% o( W3 x! T1 ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
7 B( z1 ?1 ]2 V# {7 h0 L, Nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams F! q* f' m% l" k3 A3 t1 h6 \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: H8 m' e* t: j) x8 ~: D
medical schools.# y2 r9 A2 r) t' p7 I5 ~
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, e2 B: Q& Q( o" P+ |
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ t% w; ^* A7 A
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 Y* @* Z+ p9 X a8 f J9 u
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* _) s" M, I( p0 q4 e' ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 g! a, n6 a4 fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 X3 ?6 \8 ]: ~) p: p5 d; vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 g9 G* @( c# A! j9 T
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ s3 A8 y$ j3 s, w* Q5 T, F5 w0 kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ |, M z c+ ~( ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ k, j( e5 G9 a8 w p
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 e) s" I2 n% w. ^) ]0 _
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 ^0 b$ [) K( j ^6 `
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; j2 [1 ]# O, v# @have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& ~2 p) w0 t9 s; o7 k- A, n/ jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: g4 f! n: Z# r$ a1 Y! ]- L0 y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 `" g+ @0 ] f4 ]: s! B" Edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( O6 h! ^* a2 T2 R4 K h/ dDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 A/ k; t( b" h& L- B0 a i( Ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ {8 O; a% f( ^: T0 z3 m" kcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 d% V1 k" r- q$ ]2 s
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
e6 a4 Q0 Q+ L6 d; ?3 qof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 G, P( @$ U- \2 z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 W! T' a( h; i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 t d) z! Y u- p$ p9 Pworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; o2 ~: h5 R/ ~3 F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& f! Q$ O3 K0 w/ }# O
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
r, Q! @8 R+ h# I3 ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
( g( ^& z" }& k8 m: x7 h4 qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% Q5 j( p9 [. g2 _
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want z& D/ z7 L; v$ p! g
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) B- o, J& y# R0 ^) S* wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( Y( \ C5 N9 P1 care spaces.( B& K, V' e# a4 K, A {3 {
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( s4 g# l O' X: z* o# A' ~
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 S5 [' ~# T8 l
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& B+ ~: L) ]2 g3 O6 l
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, U$ `, ?3 I8 O% [7 S! U8 M5 oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( n; o5 u* i) k
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: q; D$ v4 I% c" ?2 w1 b0 q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 n- z/ w# |% c0 \car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, M' k- y5 v: N4 D) I, C( }: i
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& x p/ w: ?8 b& h5 B Z6 R We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
