我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 Q3 t# Y0 o" M3 T. x
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# j8 y$ x) l% Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' K/ N3 A8 \% _' e$ n3 @6 y7 f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 e0 }# e( r' j. @/ D3 Canswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& s+ h4 D1 W- g% W$ |- c0 E* [7 ~2 M
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% i" s: }, `: J+ T4 Q5 d3 dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ o/ `- B/ w$ N- v6 X8 c2 \1 y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 L! [7 ^4 q* Hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 W q3 y, O v zmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 i9 `. o7 F" \+ K( _6 P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 w) Z6 z5 C- y4 s/ u
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 @9 i- |! G/ D8 P# n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; M7 m& O3 g, x ]7 {/ ~8 B% ^: h
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 i) S! }4 c' }& t3 S( J6 @: uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' S( Q0 j4 }6 z sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 D! Y2 x6 v. o" @0 {) Q- C$ ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! s, `4 ^8 o9 N
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) W2 n/ u9 U% ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! N2 r4 p! p$ E# @- K
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ X. j8 m0 P1 A; X3 W9 [# W! csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 j% t' u. c, V3 E9 r
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ O7 N# n6 ^. l3 _) Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' b! Y6 n7 {3 _0 M% w% v4 P# ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 a+ P& t# R4 f& Gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# Q! K J+ n2 A, L
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 R4 x5 D' G9 [. J3 p5 B, _( ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 i, {; r5 J+ i: @! }1 P
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% }( q& W7 W) j5 `' P. l/ \: von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* L4 K% D; g- o% Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. Z& f( D0 m& y- Y' O4 R' Utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 M8 H. ^3 J# s2 j$ y: ^- D$ Dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; G% [8 K/ m( P5 R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 [8 h- B, O2 [schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 o; D0 F6 \' A1 F4 C. s- ~# A u# r1 byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ a& U8 C5 ]% O1 D4 ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ y' q. r3 N6 v2 l w4 c% _
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- T& P& x; f: K- x) w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" y# |- u: H3 j* lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 S2 \1 Q' p% e$ ^+ R- @
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; z) D/ |: Z( O6 qare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 {) i* }5 n# V& \" G* C: e
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 E- r6 f" z# w
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 K3 ]; M, k) G( A$ g" V% G) j2 w40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: I1 ~+ f2 \: C/ k+ iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, d3 s* n6 O4 Z, nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few @$ |; u- v t4 \# `
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; N- T% N6 N) ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: ~8 Y% H8 L& m! n( Q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 Q. p& c3 `# X4 J9 V% U: W% R We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
