我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 \/ h- m+ x0 {; N: h( v- z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# X% e1 T, ?7 a' ^$ J/ C. _5 uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; S2 q/ x4 r0 s* m, N! e5 u"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: g; p9 p! g4 V# B danswers to our pointed questions.6 U! j/ n' w& O' y' t
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" ^& b6 H; Y$ A5 L% {45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) J- H& f& t+ x2 J
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- n' M$ y# i9 X- Y$ Q5 a
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 p* W* @# q; a* M$ \ N
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
3 k) `& w) Z6 R+ A% G: X4 gmedical schools.6 I- f' L1 E# I" p) U; N
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* e* _2 ?3 [" ggovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 K4 _8 P; B% v5 e1 G$ Uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 C! p/ W# ^7 B# |assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; B/ ?3 r9 G7 @& C4 u* e4 ] xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ b. K, O# t8 u- p5 N' u
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 _ {$ `) G- a
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; A) V$ p1 s$ e6 J6 smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* u0 S8 ^7 e+ i5 }+ k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ @* Z' c0 @5 V! q; \8 C* S0 Z `sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) S L3 K( G# [. _. p$ R
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- M5 l, j' g& i# n: V/ Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. n8 h) _! L {
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* i4 b5 V& j5 \% R# D, B
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 |; a) e! W7 I: K
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# {- m3 p# C! _1 r+ w
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 h$ B* `/ N; t5 }# udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, e/ y3 h2 b7 P) s: W5 I( r' QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# }3 D' h4 Q" O y' _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* ]4 I( v7 M" icharge the fee defined by the state.- S' P/ r+ K8 O9 w
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( c0 L/ T* ^& g% X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* \/ f* _# D& s y/ B2 E
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- i& x% S' H, b6 I/ U7 `+ qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# h; D8 Z- D, dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 V3 h1 k3 ^! M7 \2 B
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 c6 X* t! w, y1 x( Z1 I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; u2 C; i' y/ M9 S' H, Yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 c9 o& l+ z; p& ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 |% s! V$ U' L0 J
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ c/ G: y& L' H5 x: V' H5 X
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: U* L* B6 |( gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( u% |/ N( @* b9 S# gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; u* n/ ?6 W( o3 {9 I# n
are spaces.4 G6 `5 M1 e- ?( k; |
) ^" e( Y2 F; E* CThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; i, p$ f( o! f7 G4 G& Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* ` d t7 x" \. e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 g4 l! K& f2 v9 ?- q+ O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ k$ v+ |6 G1 @0 Y& e9 k4 U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 y0 m# @ S7 \3 d3 \
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
x0 V: S- n) ^; K6 P) B( }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 N& c( E9 a$ |6 x: M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' r8 E# A/ L3 r8 J4 V# s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 i3 A8 }1 U9 d _
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
