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 G. |- M8 ~1 `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, Z) a5 l% W5 x5 s
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. K% |4 k6 o; `/ h6 {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 z4 Z4 Z s* _
answers to our pointed questions. M M: o, M/ a+ ]
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 j, Z. K8 D0 ^; s5 l7 w; n7 f) [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. t! E7 S7 m, G, e: e
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 @2 W1 p n* W& A% t' W; d8 Ifree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; ~7 Z! w8 h3 C5 _1 U9 }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 M* n, i$ b' R bmedical schools.
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6 @9 w# D% N8 r# EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) ]" V& }2 }' pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 s6 f9 S* X g' U0 sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 M6 P. y' e# x; kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
P8 K/ @* ^; i/ [/ p% z4 u3 Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! s7 D3 H$ y# _' D+ Q" H( mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ p0 }, l% }' }
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( {6 t" p- E! @; s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# |4 s; A5 l* e" g
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: H% u( S5 ?+ _* _( ~* Z. v; g+ Asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 K, W: b4 \( I: x2 J: q1 F
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 _6 g; V8 z5 k# W% f7 n
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 `7 l# m- x2 G9 }8 D/ [! S
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 R1 G- @+ \, ^6 x1 K4 U. c' z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ E) c, G8 E# l6 A" Q. Qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 Z/ o7 m. E/ Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 \1 c- T) C+ r! ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! `! i ~; Y; ?/ F, f, E# Ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 |% ?: B9 P) |charge the fee defined by the state.) n5 b, K$ l" o7 v: w' l
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% p4 r0 \0 E* ^2 P
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type D9 _: b& d3 i n1 `0 ?9 a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! y$ K/ n( Z$ [( n- }- `' z2 _% l' V* a0 y" H
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( B+ x2 w, L2 b
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# W6 I4 r5 Y6 `working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ ] j9 j7 [8 R
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* d! e$ K$ r. d% ^ Ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* ~7 w, I3 o' _% @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! b4 h; J8 k# v
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
?! J: ?8 v- [people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 Q2 Z0 z1 r2 I, ^to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 X) p9 C6 y# x2 Q# [1 I
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there J0 r% H3 [& k
are spaces.. r! m0 r! }, e5 X6 T! T3 V
7 h& m4 y# s! ~& ?* V/ tThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 r( R/ p( R. R* E6 @# a% X; q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" \6 g, Z2 Z3 Z) ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 `7 `5 U# {" _4 J5 T40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ g0 S5 |/ ?6 R' o a d( y4 x1 d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 Q- @" N' L/ E) ^. Y% Z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" [# P& ^! K2 v; D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 h* ?- Z: A6 } A& k
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ E9 k. I( C; O1 m5 f+ a' b
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 s' A" p1 S# q* P% w! `: @+ q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
