我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 H8 k- N) Q$ O8 I8 t
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
$ A6 p! w2 o2 r7 V6 ?- K( b4 B: son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 u/ m' j: k2 b( [5 D1 P
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ ~8 U+ r1 z. y' ]8 Qanswers to our pointed questions.
5 n+ k* F- a2 C1 B
0 C1 p- w4 i" s( v& F1 o( E, J% z' HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 t) q8 ^% K9 ~. Q9 i4 h: e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 [+ B# `3 q; }
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 E/ U% r1 H8 ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! ?3 Y! T) U5 P3 T. R. R- j- m# ~0 X3 Oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 i k( X: t0 M4 F
medical schools.* d2 F( m; d" @- m3 N
/ X* ~9 U) e `6 L2 p3 I$ H6 O" qEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
1 L8 R3 Z1 M1 _* z! agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& N1 ?, W* L( e! c) x
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, p: Z; e" U& D: p/ K8 d6 Z# sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; D* E c9 {& w. m/ ?
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ Q# n6 P+ y( Gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; F6 U2 }5 |, v! q. P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
3 F. U4 a+ T4 t) s1 U7 y) Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' x! t! x$ @) nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ ]8 D2 b, s! q) o1 Asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
; g7 h* K2 Q0 f4 g
# c. f9 G9 _) i( S" {- L6 W6 O: o7 GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# f6 I+ P. E' Q, r4 F6 i: D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
, V5 i7 X% b5 i4 y5 D1 psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 w2 W6 H4 x( t3 ]
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ _# o7 o# |4 Jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 m. v0 J# S1 O4 {sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 x, G; k. F3 O2 \- I' `6 M! b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ J1 A! t3 {9 Q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; e+ B( ~/ b; [
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ k1 N) K M; E+ E+ ^7 Q, y
charge the fee defined by the state.. q/ Q0 f* l' M- ?4 J* \
" I% e' \' p0 x# M- ?* j
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' s* d6 C# f, f) Q1 V2 B& ~1 jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& S% s$ Z# @# ^$ ]
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ ?1 I% F; G) N3 c' ]! { Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 J7 @9 G# {* V& t" Iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 [* n* p! R. y5 c: X! k; |: n# sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ v3 T, f2 ~+ W4 Z, `7 Zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 s1 n: ^3 A s1 U5 r0 [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% l0 j2 A8 I7 c. [- E$ Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& t. h' y( q2 ~! N8 C# Q* f; p. x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- Y5 B/ g7 K' x& K1 D; B$ O5 Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 s7 f7 Z* r( X `; r" |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 w- Y, b: S+ H5 u" U& ~: Y. fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 O5 {/ l. i, X: }4 u9 n! e
are spaces.
! E1 b( V1 [* }# [! X
, c& j* r0 g3 H. u6 U6 VThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, H' x; R6 v5 a+ zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 c4 F( O }# p! L$ \" @/ [+ b
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 C4 m" }5 m! w2 U6 U/ {! V
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: p( A7 q7 d! ` W3 o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ Q# }6 q) U: q* y4 x- \best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 c- A! q$ ]# [1 B: a
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 H2 w3 V- A# \& D/ W, u* ]5 ]8 q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" R& {5 g- ?; O3 ^% T8 Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' Z6 i- o+ u3 D" R: p$ }: x! B3 v
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
