我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 D8 _* m0 G3 E0 I
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 F$ c1 ^$ t5 Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. b& ^( E9 V6 ~1 B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 \6 s; P( L7 J( r
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 [1 C# Y4 ~9 q0 D2 G# h
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
' }5 Y& k( m4 F1 sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
- L) z* I$ b" I- S0 efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 h! [9 U7 A4 |5 W% m( t3 Tto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. k' a, j4 t% ?5 M8 Smedical schools.
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w* s/ H1 m4 ?Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, a3 n' z6 u# Q4 E
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; B9 C" q' ]/ v, P- V) {8 Mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ z! `/ N( W' I* u
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, A! a# e9 H+ p7 His from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% D: l! ~" S) j$ ]) t8 O1 O
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' i! f' S$ w1 G* A( \9 h
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; f+ I& }( B' X! U+ W
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) G$ _, B2 z+ |3 G% Q8 w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 E9 ~5 A; q, h5 h* X8 isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( H Q l. q( ?% E. R6 q% b
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 J& k, M3 ? ?! A
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) f+ x( @. M0 msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. ?$ ?1 O2 N7 D4 Q. A' xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" `- q. X; o% v, p _- z, T2 Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 C' q6 Z( L" h3 |sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 K9 s3 d& k1 w, `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. I" d3 r! O4 L3 S( w- T: b; K% iDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 s) C& T2 h& T! `* @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* i1 ?. ]4 \ y7 _8 Echarge the fee defined by the state.6 k" X) q& [: B( @
0 Q& I! l% `* r( o- |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 |9 M$ {2 P( @
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! x3 L9 [# N- P/ ~6 p) t
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 i2 Y: q* p" h. h2 A) k C
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 B2 E8 L* x+ e( y) T: F% Sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 e+ X, m+ y' u8 m( d/ J6 o* o/ V* N
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 n/ n3 W- N c0 |2 T' I. a
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, y8 E# H. @( m* m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 o; ~# P) Z, S6 Q3 a) Z" u# ]4 m$ }
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- {: i R# h- T
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" e% f1 V* j7 i1 c, epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) h# [! J, ?" e Y# K! z( ^to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 N- V: D) u9 P* _" R
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. `+ r+ I4 v6 n, w) w, c- Q
are spaces.
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8 a; o) a8 o5 T" m1 h) O& UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: I$ M; |; L; P$ p2 y9 f
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 ^ u7 V: e4 H* P, b" C G6 g
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! R8 E1 @ u2 ^40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. \5 C. m1 b, b# L W* ?parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: }) K1 N: }% ~3 ]; O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 L8 j& P3 q. _& C3 F
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 f Z1 u. L3 ? s V1 X" T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 g; ?; r0 ^3 i5 q* H3 A- }- Y* t# `is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ c Q; X& h5 S+ S! K4 `: G We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
