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/ V4 d2 W E% d. [" F* ]
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 o, J, i4 G, D9 e. o' w- Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, `1 k, r K% x. L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 h6 w5 V v# P) lanswers to our pointed questions.
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( T: S$ i. X# ~' m- o8 eThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& H* L$ d0 t+ b0 D1 S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ L) w& x2 p) D" @) ?out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 y% m; H2 K8 W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ l: k9 R, \3 r! Wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 V8 z& h1 T c1 A5 d! _; fmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 s$ {4 ^* N" U( I$ D3 H7 Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 G2 ~5 S+ h: z) lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 \* X( X0 `6 Z ^. [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' W7 W+ R& y& T" A
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 l: u! B/ C! T. @9 Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" j5 x1 a8 h I% }, \2 V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 h o4 z- u6 W4 Y6 ]1 ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) G' f7 F1 l2 N7 t. i n, E P" g
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- V+ J3 P# A5 n! m' Osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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- }$ B7 X; i( \8 j4 |& TThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, Q) r+ {' z: ~. t" X% s2 r
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( c- U% T5 r9 b, Y0 o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 G% g' K. }$ I& ^: q: G+ c
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* I# \4 n* M, ^2 W
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, s% Z4 X; G- G' V3 isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) V) Q3 u" \) m6 R" `* u% t* c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. ~) L0 e/ J F! MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# o" }4 V( [: b& x2 h% r \3 h
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 T4 H. P$ \* i4 s' n+ R3 Ncharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* L4 A, D1 F4 L4 Z# ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 E f/ i. O& L! O; }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 g9 _; q( c. H! d4 H/ {- ~
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 l2 S3 h9 ]. P/ f# `, W
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; g: \! `5 X8 L% @5 P
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
{) c5 K+ e7 _: Hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' m4 x& V. b0 W9 G
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 Y# a2 d; u5 ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 N# N+ h- n% k3 T1 A' r/ I' thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# D7 I! [; m' L! r: H% o( G
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 a2 [3 j+ {# E% F! Q9 f
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ d( S" R$ }4 v
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 t- n1 Y! @- g) f4 }
are spaces.: s3 }) W6 ?( k0 R! R( T$ C. m
4 Y0 T6 ]5 O& M9 t! j- H! sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ a2 k6 i' l: T* |% m) U: z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: ^) y0 h# U8 b D0 uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 S' L, {6 M b" ~" v8 \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 S3 { B* L( ^* z j6 T
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 x; A8 H0 |8 A; d0 g
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 M6 o& N* W9 o h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 ^" {: Q- p, H- r1 j; [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 F# A" v! C8 n; f* E. ^: ~
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- D E, V$ b8 F- m We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
