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# N9 I3 B# ^9 H+ c6 W/ N6 K9 }! N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
$ P9 k/ N& v: } ~3 n. }& zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% T; t1 t% b5 [! W6 H" F. f X
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 g, ~# g/ s$ M# m& Z8 vanswers to our pointed questions.$ |& R9 J1 \5 P$ e$ K2 K+ v/ V( g4 x/ {
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* G5 {0 v9 ^ m" {% J* Y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& e7 E# h% S8 |1 H j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 [& v8 W( @) Y2 ]" Z A
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ p- E: z: Z) o) m' [to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& L8 S0 r" @% S7 X
medical schools.
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8 f# P4 z% E& F3 UEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ p. x/ R9 G% x1 V8 N2 p
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' T: f4 T7 ~0 _: `to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years P2 G3 c5 K) m' g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! ~9 Q* p0 B' V& ?- }$ ?5 Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 `4 T g: G; y4 s& l) O3 E2 e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 a% u) f Y- g4 ^) V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* ^% o9 s* U, j7 V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 \ V' f6 K" Qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( c- u3 `/ `- I# l% jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* t0 o9 s; R' X3 S8 u( i
$ {$ o% q. Z( H; sThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 B! q# Y( Y2 t# Y% n: G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& Y- w" e- Q( c1 k6 _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 q. {' v$ {, ~$ }0 J, X5 fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 T/ M8 v8 ~0 H' g
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; Z0 I7 _3 P2 }" Q1 Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
* Y9 a* G9 J4 B3 f" mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& D$ u* Y8 E7 z) C6 P' U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ r4 f9 S7 F2 J6 W6 Xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, o5 n7 m! q, Z- icharge the fee defined by the state.4 {. r6 `* @# L- L
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" K1 U$ d2 t* ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 [0 V) q8 d x- n. s* b- W2 q" tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: v' X) z& ^/ T: |2 c8 V( xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 t0 ?) k$ n+ |$ b: ^seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ m! H' s, ~1 z U, W2 W0 `2 Hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" o5 J+ K0 X w+ m8 Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 r" F! G+ A0 @you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" V6 T0 z: J# d& m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 C+ B" H( v) P
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* Z8 k! Q8 s5 X, k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) D& M+ g# |% V5 q2 U2 ~
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 I# I4 V6 h6 |; U0 h/ S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' o0 {4 d8 H. Y: W4 Hare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ m& p9 [( [3 L9 [, N* S
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ p' N% n8 F4 ?, s% g8 K2 i" Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& F( B+ o% a- h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, A4 x P* Y& x, v* C" s8 [2 y) Y& hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. U0 x4 w' s) ^3 vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ |0 B" f6 t' P. c: M
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& s# J j4 X- m+ l/ X
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it g7 z* ^+ ~9 L1 g* B
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( `( f9 X4 S, d% P: f
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
