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
. q/ {$ b$ p! y4 k& A; @8 cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went5 s; B2 C& V- l6 s, u
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; X' V9 {/ o+ y8 U3 _4 M
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" m" S4 b# a6 B0 a3 ?7 a& canswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 j( h% ]! x+ T8 K/ G45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, d. P$ N: m3 N6 S) ^$ f4 Z7 ~, R) E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. B2 U v1 ]5 J) ffree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- d* t& w. s4 H$ M7 N' z0 \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 i, Y8 b5 |2 J; R* C/ U, f/ B
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; Y: a( q B3 j/ Y' v8 j; Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 \. H" u) s! t7 r/ m1 S/ b* e* ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 J; V6 `: K# g2 ^* a
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# G9 S" z8 U( n) Pis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
i" Q9 M$ A5 o3 Oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 A; q1 y& V( z) h' t* I3 W' J/ u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' \; F' n( n& h. F& Dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( D) a7 e w/ q4 [# X, c9 V6 z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ b" {% s0 {9 `: M0 p: jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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; z4 L* n/ J/ \The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* D& @# |" y3 r' u7 D# q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 B+ `9 ]6 e' E6 {: P. N. |) k) _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 M# M6 N, b- R L# c+ n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. E# E0 q3 V! g4 r, h9 P' v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 Q. i' ]6 A; |8 c7 D! k
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; w0 R E" T1 u* V$ S! v( m9 b& Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! Y# O4 h2 o6 w* s& ]
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# ? F; a( l4 ]6 s1 q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% v3 r( e9 G5 v3 }7 p8 f( R
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; t. G- W; S2 l$ b( q; Yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ c8 \7 m+ }4 {; c& Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ a7 ~3 P* t% B I/ @2 ]truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
3 _! V5 h J% ?8 [) Kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 a3 h4 l9 Q9 ^9 q+ v: r1 M% o
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 y7 x8 E- s/ L' E& k5 q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 }& `4 k6 q& t- x8 F$ w
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% V! f& w5 p$ X% {- y4 D3 k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- J0 ~5 I" v# e0 n5 e9 C4 d8 _
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. I6 v X q7 S, @$ y; a! k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: ?- J( ~& p9 i- _
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; E) r1 l5 |/ K r1 \4 J
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# F8 {! c6 n8 O: E4 y
are spaces.) b5 R( Q. W0 d% D) Z6 P9 m& v
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" i. [( \3 K$ t {8 N s+ _
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! i. M. v- z* ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) F3 F* p D, q. x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 E' ]8 `+ w. K+ ^parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" I X' u& s' v7 v- p! Z6 M
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, d* t2 a: a* C! `) ]1 K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& [8 ]$ L& d# C" a V3 icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 b0 e, [& V4 i+ ` Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' e; ^4 P3 \4 z; o
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
