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! ? ^3 {# ~5 ?1 G% R+ R% t- D/ h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ @ A4 t; S0 `' D( p9 r6 con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ M5 I- c+ N+ p1 e; Y- }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' |4 B* ~: G$ U- Y$ l
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, H" ?9 H" s8 c$ \7 Z8 y$ u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ B0 J* C$ {8 F# Rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# [; r# P0 \% ?4 {: d+ A6 a+ I' N) T
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 D% V4 O4 y& f! t- q Yto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 r" K, v6 G! T3 B' m$ g5 `" g
medical schools.6 n4 U2 ?# b7 F( s6 e
1 n0 M1 g2 d* _* hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- t! ] P, c! C4 d# A% r( q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 O- v0 b* l: q4 F2 X
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 ^$ h6 q& \) wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
~- U3 S) v& l8 f5 K0 m' nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' L& h- R1 q, j' L( \! |7 y6 yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
9 m9 R$ ?) l+ b5 \' p2 G4 s: p6 Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) \4 }" N/ h3 s; V: |. V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 r% o- T, a- Y/ \shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& E2 o) @6 o% b- Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ p5 q: y4 Q! h, X/ l; k
9 }. _' ~% G- oThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! o4 H, H6 C, Z5 y" Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( _- R2 u8 @% d. p0 g
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ {) l2 R/ m* f' ^
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ \- d J5 _- z: S- M& zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 J& [) h! [" j% ~ E6 j6 dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 o E. D5 E7 W# [. b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" Y V0 S8 M( WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& x% o5 X, D. T7 D7 ?
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% b* D/ e# m4 b' k/ [# ]
charge the fee defined by the state.. F! n# U* ?4 ~: c Z. y
' J9 [$ H [! o8 ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' D8 h( M; Z# j- u2 M
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 n5 \: i4 d+ R6 _( G" l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
`; @$ |0 B) o0 e) Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# a3 w/ H# |9 |+ R( U- }seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 D! @- L# v6 _2 h7 L+ d$ U# o
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" ], N! d5 D6 g1 @6 f
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 L4 k. e$ J0 N9 c4 r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% r! L" ]# L& N7 |+ Htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) [% s7 a# e; m: D1 c5 J) dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' H* y) c& s. l+ H/ `
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 S) W7 N; L9 g! r
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" w& q k& u w. h4 M1 t* Bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 T1 B) x3 O4 i! @) {4 A
are spaces.3 v- S: h, |( r8 ~) C
7 X: Z e, m$ `, yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& @2 l; c0 @ b+ ], x+ ~& p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 r: l" a& U5 G) mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the I3 }) W4 y5 ~$ x# \* N8 B+ X2 s
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' J, q" \$ ~! D+ \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. M0 R7 }0 U$ D1 T" R% ~+ G' m
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 p5 O1 j; b2 M( w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
. ~$ |' l0 o( b# w5 L1 {car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 S. i2 V' z6 s! }: o" c7 Q( uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 U4 w/ F6 u( \# S* M8 b2 ^
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
