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/ `! j0 E$ K D5 N/ e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! |* M* `$ n0 E& s$ ~- ~4 e
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 q G) F* N5 @9 c+ h"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ h4 U) }0 a9 j3 Banswers to our pointed questions.% t) m7 h( a9 A* S: X4 G% B
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 a2 V8 g1 I5 s' v8 z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" x1 |) |1 w4 M! x! {7 K+ Z% X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 b# l6 w: v. k) _5 d
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 A+ y9 M% h' z& Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 r2 ?5 Z+ g$ bmedical schools.
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* ~( r( H5 y7 QEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. ^$ V7 j* G+ L4 ^6 Z3 Cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 f/ a; q2 _ n$ ?
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 @% S% B' q. p* N$ @assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, Y. v6 r5 s: R. [/ c; V& ^5 h# g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. @+ A+ \8 p- @4 Z* _" e- l+ F! _" uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 l2 Y9 H( n4 Y0 n$ ^) L, J$ hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 I& H7 y. Y2 k5 k+ ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' o, H" r8 e* ^. y4 X9 p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 p6 w( t) s2 c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 m/ v$ C' E& n, \: E% G
" m6 _: |" E& C; wThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
6 u, t8 p! C u: Y" H. _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! H1 P3 [; ^# y/ X% y# N2 Asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 \6 y$ K+ w" E( N0 q
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 d) j4 @& B; \" f9 U6 [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 s! `" y/ g4 G# [5 g" _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) e8 l$ C, x! @" s" l6 Z* n8 Edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 a. z3 Z; F* }8 _4 f: ?3 X* ~Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 V7 J, z9 b* {3 z- V& x6 |3 d
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 H0 F4 f. v8 j, g% L# Z2 e" q5 A2 ^charge the fee defined by the state.( _$ J) h9 _4 R/ j7 k9 s; J
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! Q3 V; \( \# F. L$ g% C2 Y9 W
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( e" u- E4 W& [; t- G+ b
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( A5 p' T2 ]& k4 j. Ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
- r8 S+ d7 {$ T( fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) _% K" K6 L. H0 jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 s4 F& S) }+ J$ d9 eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 h3 J( k9 Q( L5 F1 ^% _
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 k8 Q+ x r* }( w2 h ]1 itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! i! l8 B; D) d- ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& V5 [- a+ w* }) O4 ~6 u% T/ mpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ k. w8 W r" Q9 Z' N) ?to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or: u0 @& d/ M0 ^6 ?, p
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. [8 V$ ?! y6 m& V) U. Sare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 N& v# T# t# y! ~- {) o
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- w) @& F9 C5 a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. R* c* m8 |7 I' k' \# b
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! `$ M9 Z) g1 b, k( kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- J/ G; K6 X0 kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! S3 e5 U$ C) s( h1 O( I. |1 Fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 @* Y) H g3 X+ ^! }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# t! o% ^6 r. [$ g$ w# s4 Gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" G* M) }( B5 G We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
