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* L* g1 b0 ^$ [: X3 }% G* Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, Z' J1 T! [. Y2 ?% W, Son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: h4 N9 y* t0 U$ }
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' N# W1 V5 t. w ~
answers to our pointed questions.$ t, Y$ E1 X; G/ z6 ]& `
9 h1 i; ?' u+ RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
Z( C. S3 c# O$ R' Z' Q ?3 x- b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; x( j, v3 R E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ z/ f* ^. B6 l* W" }. n; Z, w8 O" N
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
}% Q) N& G* g7 R3 A7 S pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: j$ ^" M* S9 ^8 B! c* Mmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. s% [' r4 A9 @$ \: {8 @2 G( Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 S* j4 O! \% A8 g* H; p4 o. U, nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- |( y* J8 y) C6 q- M6 u
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ R5 r8 ]0 F& B" _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( u' \3 C' j5 ^. l3 ]- u6 U
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ T0 _' a6 V7 M0 c: w7 X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& F$ O3 _# T5 }5 Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 n. ? c6 T. `; r9 I+ d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 a( z% o6 |- }, `sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 F- H2 b9 L9 {! T
8 W' b$ O0 ]6 Y5 f) } YThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: r. d: X* Q: l4 G1 m9 _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 C/ k! {8 E' V% Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ I) H/ P+ s$ C" i" \4 F! s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 u+ @* D: q$ R1 n! \0 Z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 z8 X/ }8 X6 Y0 @+ g, l4 f$ d5 hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
: P5 S$ E! X+ {7 [8 ~) Ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 s7 ?. u6 U$ [5 x B
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! n$ R9 M- d6 \) \4 {' J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' j5 S( T: }$ o6 l8 P0 Acharge the fee defined by the state.* f }2 t- `% p- ?! w! T; V4 {
5 X9 A; @5 Y5 [1 D; YThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get \4 c$ g% I$ n/ C4 T# d& ?
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: u2 V( M+ g2 Y n6 lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! h: T1 }, t, S! p N n
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 H8 `, C' Y$ h* G hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 }+ \+ N+ G- W5 G/ G+ ^working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 \: j1 o: v) I5 q" E0 kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 G$ o& `, E0 b+ B) u4 S& D. B1 Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: M, J: V4 ?8 t3 h& Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
( A3 G6 ~* Y, c0 G! z% ]hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* s2 U9 [$ V" j) @ Q% A/ a
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 |6 p$ J9 t3 a7 }% f
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" u( b7 ?5 B' ^ j6 Y( V; k7 }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 r4 a$ Y( l* z# J: Uare spaces.
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/ z2 u# u8 B# GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: }# s- h: s$ ]8 f; ~to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 ]1 x3 i' W* L: K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. r' \. a4 ~- g: B/ _% v K
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: x- E# ^$ V2 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! ]7 Q) J: C& X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! \! Q$ T" F! {: C8 m
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 e+ D5 X" ~8 Y4 c. E4 a
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) h4 b- ?0 _# a: ]% T F8 f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: m: ~- Y6 I8 h; J& P6 |
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
