我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 i8 s- K1 M& ?" d- w. S
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 B/ A( p2 m0 W! con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' M, k n1 L8 g) P; M7 t
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, B" N' B' a8 G5 vanswers to our pointed questions.6 @. G% H4 ~+ c3 y
% x: `7 Y6 W9 ]( |- S$ LThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 V r) F: I1 G J% u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. V: c, @- z) R
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
8 Q1 n V- @3 f( _1 K9 F7 Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% g' d0 P# y2 t* F% U
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ ?) x3 P' u3 l0 pmedical schools.
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! ^3 u# z$ |! y9 |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 T/ l+ M. ?: [! b' u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 n, `, N9 h p: G2 N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, r. c- j: {1 v# Y& \4 Z9 c. |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
I5 B! ~) i: }+ W. _ Qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) F/ H* P. N4 y% y' G3 O' kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 m B4 a0 ]9 {* @8 u) h
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 H/ z2 H; s! \: Qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 M5 k4 R' r {" e6 ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some. N$ ?) ^9 Z" e' a p% ^5 U
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: V; D6 N4 ^8 C+ W& l7 f
8 R# }9 U3 @2 h: {: r4 z; TThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" d! ^& S) U0 t* b. y& V4 z& m2 G' N
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" K9 c5 _( Q f- T
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; ?9 B/ }* |' s, s) f9 C- s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* G- t6 T' C/ M4 T9 {
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& \" I0 F0 Z. Z% H5 E" b) M! W4 W( ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; [' d; N9 D! @0 o
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 x. F4 c+ Z6 _% ]9 R/ j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* b& v" F/ g9 D4 p
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( v1 S: O7 h F9 t/ h7 Icharge the fee defined by the state.
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4 c' n/ ~* s9 _2 v5 hThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& T3 a% A; \$ [2 ]1 |' [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( v- i, F. d u* Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big P7 {8 F+ i! O( \
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' Q# B v5 e1 ?* N, f( g+ b6 v6 ~
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 D: i' ]: N4 T3 Y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 n5 u% O! G0 ~7 b
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if# h3 c' \; e9 A8 C
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 x/ u5 ~# l+ l" Y( `( jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) r% K" |$ B4 v& k( S- J) qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ H1 d, N. Y! F* Apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* v! d% A: `* a5 n
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 r: [) `; e8 E; v1 \/ x' Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 D5 }, x S6 r% m. k! x: v p Eare spaces.9 @' x3 ]8 u9 n' n6 N% W6 z
3 V1 L2 g q& U- sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 R0 o2 T8 {! R# @" W% y; oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
0 y" D4 q# @ B) C1 n jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 ?: g' d- S: p40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 z0 S, P" d5 H' o) K
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. L# l/ M0 D& y# T
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& G- m% K$ q4 p/ c4 N3 C; [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* B% y1 V- S& V% p5 } z' ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it8 L2 k- C& Z! o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" n Y7 c: @6 C" n0 C- w6 d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
