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( `; f* {3 l0 n
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% U; d) c. R" K$ b+ _- Von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 N/ [7 p1 j: j! u4 T! q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& E( r$ }- J- i! L+ Manswers to our pointed questions.9 U' k/ ?9 U. l j* D* {; k
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 u3 p) q* C ~2 X
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 B: f6 ~# Q8 t/ ^out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 `' K& L! G- T3 y/ V
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 R% w/ g+ R/ J f
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
1 T! X8 @0 P* Qmedical schools.$ @, p; j$ f/ w: C4 R
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ k: ` V4 l" @
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: h! {5 c8 l! I; m) J+ b4 \to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- ]1 ?3 w: ~: |0 L7 z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: S% X; k" P+ b: {3 j4 L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" m0 z2 C/ Z- k4 O/ aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 c8 V+ J- p1 N% R ?4 G; r
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 P: p( `1 h0 F5 ^! R% amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* z9 H) k, D" Y; e
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# s6 o8 B+ B, N: i) C. gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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3 r2 Y. b: V5 V4 yThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! W4 ~$ k* N5 u1 {) z9 I" [( kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% N3 {: }5 h( Y* R% J* {: c3 N: Q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, d' f' j, N3 |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# C! l; r1 g& O3 j
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ I* Z" w# O" g nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) |" M2 M4 e. ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 Z3 x. y L4 B2 O2 G2 `6 E9 O
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When( N& G; {+ h6 @ t8 v; ^
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 b% t- x* O' t7 u9 |# ]charge the fee defined by the state.# { v/ _- T: U2 {/ S& l# U& H
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, a. m# r1 p8 F2 }; o" |0 ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 X1 S0 R5 N& C% Wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! [1 Y H+ h! \7 r4 ~3 {- ~
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# b% h* T, k" T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 M+ s! \9 q3 f- w8 q. Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ ~5 y. ~* T* b! C `2 {
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if# F m$ L( |6 s$ L# r( F7 m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" i% j. Y- E2 `& T
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% W, w2 b. L- P/ ?& x7 Whiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. g d- ?: W; ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: M2 j6 T8 \' x7 Y+ h: y/ M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 i) F* C6 c8 C9 N" X* Sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 D3 Q. Y7 [1 \& Hare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! l0 Q6 H; W6 i9 x4 U! \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 v5 q: ^1 M$ m- V1 V
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
) \, K/ Y# J# i2 y* H40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! q3 r8 s; U: M0 o; r% ~8 Y! Y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& u' y. i$ P" Z% k8 m% x# T
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& Y! _$ F# l' P$ i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of. L" q6 b9 E$ | y* [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- f3 T% e: {$ K1 \: P% e" Y, Jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 }8 s6 ~9 [1 h& e# U. K1 _
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
