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; H) }+ w/ }6 o: m! N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" T5 M# r& u% l1 a! K% N5 D+ mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& O% ~" E, K0 x- d4 {$ ~9 B: t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 [6 J3 g" s) a* L+ |
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: d, d, E% F$ d45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 D9 D4 @8 v `6 J3 x% x' Oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 p! l: {# Y* h, {9 b" N. L, z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 c8 M! X% X2 x9 O1 Mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: a) e- W8 L+ d( F8 h! Nmedical schools.
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- o4 y5 }8 l& F7 f8 kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) Z1 z5 W- W( r" K; I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 ^1 m2 P: d3 r
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ F0 R3 C& F! Sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 n! u+ l' [+ `4 X+ {
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to H) }" r. ~& v7 l; m# A
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 O+ L: W9 _ u7 g1 a" _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- D! u6 U$ P3 j; H, O* Ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ O: p* J# ~3 o# n$ K+ k0 bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some V! |& O3 z4 I$ `" B
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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9 ~& o {! `# v. v1 p: ~# D0 IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ ~( [- f, N7 Q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* U% b, u( {8 Q9 P2 u$ c3 Ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, d% w3 j3 C" A6 hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. L! Y5 M% @# V1 _7 K' y3 q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. b/ F1 w% b1 N, y" w: G* o) i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; C: L2 z; C3 T$ k* C7 z* R$ p
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ ~1 G3 F. f. m' LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# I" l5 S& h4 W
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- v: ?/ D1 X# `9 S) |
charge the fee defined by the state.6 d1 }9 p6 ]( }9 w; t
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 K: T# q; }8 _8 d1 K; E* pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# i6 K, M/ X8 R
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& W7 r0 n! M; L( m1 N8 Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 ^, p( s+ y, S' O i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 l6 c8 V/ I# E: ]- h' T, \' Uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 ?) d& O: F3 @7 z4 q Mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
s" M- X" ]* j/ u+ H ?( f8 ~you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, k1 l" I. y! t# F b- E. [! rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 p0 k8 J" s5 ^
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ i/ G9 J2 a# K) qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" Y* R K" w% G' o4 f( N- Y6 B
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 v. V% [% Y8 n+ c% E0 X9 y; x) T, H
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* [) b+ A( m& m+ I. F
are spaces.
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' U- O( r! Z9 X0 p/ _+ }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* v' Y V! P6 B6 t8 c
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( B; U- u! K" w! ~+ x7 ?own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 D( F% S7 |5 @0 Y: O" G& p40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. h' c6 q6 a5 ]1 C% Z ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 t$ v4 g: [! j$ ~' x" m. kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 u; t( \5 k! i5 K: T* p: p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" g& g* F: Y* T* Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 k9 F$ @# A6 Fis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." x8 `# O' P% J; R! b9 J8 D4 [
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
