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/ Z4 y" `. {9 c; ?) U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) a6 c y. C- I1 n# H7 p) `on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" t- P8 A' }: r+ w- c"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 f4 B% d% q" C8 f, j) Xanswers to our pointed questions.- W6 J) w# d6 \ m! u: A
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ ]0 q% S" |$ F5 E, |% _3 [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* \3 J* t- Z$ z& j6 o* o
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" C; h. R; m+ G1 r. l- J$ [( }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: _# S0 t l& n2 v3 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. T8 y9 D, R: f6 }
medical schools.3 i# h3 A+ L1 p. o& D
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ A( s3 ]; q, O5 K* ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 B0 |! R' R# J0 X+ fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; ^) D# h1 X: J: _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- U) k8 N+ f9 q7 ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# o7 ?0 Y; C6 g8 i8 w: z9 ]. Wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% d( X* X. J! |7 h9 Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& s# w7 M2 v1 m
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; F5 ]4 r; R3 R( Q8 y) a# wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! A* ~- I: m9 k4 s( Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., N, ~; O4 r* I5 ?
( k3 q) h+ A. D0 R4 E' H! HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 z! O3 X; Q7 U( s( g9 \" ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 I7 ^* y% ~2 Q8 S# g4 M
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; r) l) n+ | O" Z( I$ |8 r$ p/ b
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' {4 e9 A3 P" k$ Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( z) Y' |/ v( w/ l$ b; j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 P& b n' J) e+ u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; D& q7 e0 s+ u( p" N- yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% q1 M( ?& g5 I
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% R* V4 A; `5 {, o; ^2 Fcharge the fee defined by the state.
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' D. q4 }& t# A/ l" [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 U# F; v) I: ?6 D/ B5 q+ ] z
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- ~3 |5 Y( |% ?1 \, p# o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 U) p; ~4 k _! g$ htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% W7 F* d4 g6 h' Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
Y- I5 q- \ R$ R+ }# Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 c/ \' V, N3 T8 {# N$ F1 g& d1 _schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; x" s; S! Z, m) ?1 i% j! v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 ^: y% P: r% I, ?3 L3 Vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- y' ]2 p7 v/ E8 g- V9 w
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* x4 ]: t. Z( i) j9 H) Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 z0 m1 ^; h0 c6 {; Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' \3 k; E8 J4 U# tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 k- V% P$ y8 d% E6 S6 Dare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 ]7 x! t5 ~3 j" B: [
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) m9 S) I1 d1 W. I+ C/ F0 A
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. Y/ X& W9 Q0 _, j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 Z1 J7 j; w3 i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! G @# @2 [& }0 e. v
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& M2 ~0 Y2 p* N3 F$ @2 c; M9 unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of h9 o# x u+ q+ U
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 h7 Z& c6 [* D' a, H% I, t! n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 N! k# t0 _# s& I) ~& t; I$ q& x+ C We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
