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
5 x" P* V& u! D$ }; b8 @7 ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
! A F: T/ P% m3 l' Z- ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: S+ S# v2 ^5 k k) d4 h"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# n. V. k: S& ~# s, g
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% \* j+ L* I8 E( ~% A
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 @! r- I2 [. x3 l/ v4 tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 K" _+ u7 b8 \6 z& M
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% c: d; w5 \+ ~
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% h: k2 t, J/ @5 m7 H0 H
medical schools.
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( S+ M+ _; ?/ W A0 m5 y- ]7 _Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. ^# S* ~( M) E( T) _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, a; p( ]' o1 @1 K( z* kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 D2 m: |3 E# e6 i2 t2 x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- U. A/ A' }' ?5 y+ W8 Z; sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( y. d$ Q0 u& Q1 N M4 E
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! P1 T$ k! l! f6 K$ z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 x+ p1 x5 M3 O9 c5 [0 v
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 U% X: N, c1 n$ ^7 B
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% l. ~" f) O2 E* O# a( N* Z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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j2 t& a" B/ g: O' } o- DThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; I- ?$ }0 Y( K2 X/ r% I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) ]# Q ^0 M7 Z4 E$ tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ M3 R+ a2 ^) J1 V) O5 h0 t( n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 z$ @. \3 y. E B: X, ^/ dthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 h6 n2 W$ Q0 y- \. Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high y; }; e" E. N# f5 m& Z1 ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% l. }; v3 x+ i* f$ j! ODivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) k* [. D9 a W m
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 _7 n; V9 l0 A2 h0 P$ Hcharge the fee defined by the state.: v$ s8 @8 n4 X. N5 d; _) H- M
3 B# S: j, l% K9 t* d3 u! XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, f8 v8 o2 F& c3 n7 {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, K5 [- {1 _& m c8 gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- N! w- @7 _: V/ }# d7 @. y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 \; s' i/ @! b" t' G5 U' v
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% ]3 q) V+ Y* ^5 ` y: x! c, ^' y- Zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on M$ X. l' B4 ^+ j3 d
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% m3 u, X! M2 ]7 J& R6 h" H
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: x. {: G$ ?% U+ Y- l$ t& ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! o3 \; b$ X1 f! N8 H8 ~$ v7 W+ |: r% |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; s$ k3 U0 q2 q$ npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% ]5 {, B; d2 O. V2 c5 ?to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! f! L; _- i$ S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% B# ]9 Z! C) ^5 B7 Vare spaces. J* j# ^2 ?- C0 y; Z# E$ J
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ H$ }. F2 ~7 B: e( }: y* g; fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 x ]' i% K: k% u& b
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
T" D _( f2 P3 F' _# _, X2 H40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, E U; U* t9 o# t- [8 @parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 I' C" S3 U/ w9 k* N0 ^/ Z& ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 r) v- [+ ^- B( {" o/ snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
/ Q" O7 B5 k* D. ~; C6 Ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 j/ u5 c* t' e8 |3 U: Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( F. M* X# O* m We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
