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 t* R) @6 s P& j: w5 S$ ]1 ?. x9 ?
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# }! h! h. P" K7 L
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 X: I# k- p# l. ~2 i0 Q* H0 h"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" C5 c( P; l1 ganswers to our pointed questions.
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. j. V/ y: x4 i* p5 b3 U- \, _. NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, M6 N, y8 x! {& w! b# \# L7 z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 o7 T9 a. H( g* E: r/ Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, ^& l, t y, @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* B1 e7 @ j( `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: D6 I6 \8 E, C2 i1 a3 {$ i9 J
medical schools.
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; C' r2 V3 i( D+ W: TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ M+ I; N7 `7 M/ n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 V( {: X2 G( d2 Q* s8 q$ L0 \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, D; ^' D6 U0 n4 u& j$ Cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 }+ V& ?; Z8 T3 ]* H" B% E
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
& r. D( e# i1 Q7 p' d( eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
- B& a, K; |9 ]" {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) \1 z4 a' a+ }7 |7 M
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) B0 ~/ n/ ?9 n" [* J
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 ?* p @* e& D4 {6 Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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- F6 _8 v0 k6 e+ o! J$ |7 EThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# Z- I- [; n* {" c3 k( V* i8 z# ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 j& n, c$ } p: g U2 Hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% x( j; _7 A7 f: L# ? Q/ lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 s- y' E" P ]/ K6 J! D; k! o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby E, z! A/ S, p8 f5 ]6 W4 N! ?. b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 U2 C2 _ @2 ~5 H) l2 Xdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* K/ Y, E+ W% S# o: c2 J
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: n+ N ]4 k9 L; ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 ]; @' I# h1 B s9 u: i
charge the fee defined by the state.
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$ f( z/ \" f8 a+ Q( y4 Y- WThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 v' o- \" [! r: `on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, \/ W. v0 ?6 r2 }) gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, U2 F" }8 s7 K: K X: mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( j. _- O b6 }, E p: nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 v9 `: f' k* P! E @5 A' O. Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ p% h3 E; r" N! r0 yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: `3 h5 S: c. y6 }* |( vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) h, W. K+ q+ m/ P- Strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 M, a R8 s" W" C" d+ X8 Y8 [
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" h" f6 [/ U0 x# M! C
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- P' s8 X) c( T9 i7 Jto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& x1 c8 U# o* m" Z- Q0 Mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' B- a: o* m* Q. Z' g
are spaces.& F: `' c! U0 y5 R+ u, s$ Z8 R* z
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi ^+ O! ?( w+ y0 g- n
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. N' @& {9 N: h+ ? _0 r! U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 R, a: I, F& G2 p/ M
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 L) }! { _1 y1 M r5 }parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 }% R4 j3 b0 d N7 _0 A6 M9 I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) d( G$ Z, P6 o& C/ s( `% w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: M% J2 [2 d4 @" z J, ]car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ M0 e) G5 O; [$ V/ Eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( d* ~/ {" @% Q8 O5 W We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
