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
s5 u/ {$ m6 d+ o |standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 \2 E7 t! O, }- Non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 u5 K) Q4 s4 n$ J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( K$ w3 Y0 c( [$ `; U$ J. X1 Banswers to our pointed questions.
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9 k4 }, ~$ `/ L3 L/ z2 I/ oThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( |0 Y# s' l# h+ ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. n: R+ \( ]) \' f% \" A/ O/ S2 G' b
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& W) d. B i$ Q# ^' p: t/ dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" v% W2 i1 {8 |! L' h
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: G( b. e" ~: H% xmedical schools./ r* o! {6 E+ r- b6 K
8 e' ]$ s f$ g. qEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. [2 s5 R5 t7 `$ k! O0 p1 vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 n+ b! a; j- Z" v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% ~% H b9 L+ j% h0 N7 T& t! Yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. Y9 Y0 a- Q: s0 k+ I% G E+ Tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" V7 \* s% v! L0 V1 a- f7 m J/ @* s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, c7 c4 f5 R9 x) V( n4 Kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 d* v' ]5 ]( a) |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ @$ ^7 S* O3 F$ s
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, z8 ~' y. D0 }sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. L1 B* T% H! p4 N2 Kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 |' T9 [* p9 [8 W+ {* @; d/ t( wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; e" A x: u B& u- }: phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, P; l/ j3 w0 W$ D% d. `( _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ q, S3 K9 E# K) q8 j2 `
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high q# u9 x+ ?# u) N; M
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 s3 }1 E U9 sDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 G* u( Y7 T# o" |$ C
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: A+ I! _2 T! p- @
charge the fee defined by the state.$ q% `* k. o- s: G, A8 z, {; ?' F
& |% p$ Y3 u1 b. ]7 gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 H6 m8 n( S, q* M
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- `7 g' G. W. Q K0 D9 m" }. M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" M3 B" y+ s! H' {& p( Q, m
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel P2 a8 Y& t( b- \ r$ X# x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% t3 T4 k8 X* B7 S* H# X$ L3 fworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 r+ h+ D/ k& B' ^+ h5 Tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: `1 P" J& N, Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. F" F+ O: q) u* W, f& J2 r' Jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, E& u) l) `2 t% n q6 y* i
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 W: r( b9 e1 g4 x1 a
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) Z. c( i* N8 T0 n' w7 V6 I0 o
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! c6 K0 ]6 X8 ^; a8 h, M! C; l: m& \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' e# C) \9 }3 I; V$ P2 X" w) O' Eare spaces.6 E+ W' k5 J) Q3 V+ w5 x/ t
* V8 F' n* f, C" Q5 O, |9 eThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 E8 S4 A$ g( W- G
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 E' p2 U. d) M& k* p: K1 @- Fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 Y' g2 G, v$ r! s3 l7 |
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ M9 C( f5 r/ m3 p( k# W/ Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; P9 X# A) G$ ]- d" Y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; E; j! F% E4 Z* c; n2 Gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 G0 S3 _& |* t0 h- i/ Z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ M) B1 U6 p1 K+ Zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& E, h/ }# [$ ~ ]5 N
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
