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 t4 f9 B- @+ N7 j
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# G; {9 H% A( L. G4 Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; y! ?; ]' M* e2 M"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 b; ]- E) t z% Q' \; `
answers to our pointed questions.
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' Z: ~8 N" ?4 L/ h( X2 ~) k* mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, p& r2 v( l& Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ [! \8 d8 T6 {0 D% a7 ^8 F) iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 r* v( E- d1 \1 Yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. _* ^- R' `% u6 w* m2 Q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ G! _3 W" ?) k/ Y* j! rmedical schools.
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2 W* N1 B* W- V8 CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# x. k2 U7 P: ?9 O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) H7 @! K+ z8 F
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 i3 X/ G6 B) s+ V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 r# d) z3 R0 y1 C/ F4 I
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 Z$ k- Q6 M" N) e9 Wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 i0 r2 B( s% t# W) Z( |: c, l
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( S# y9 h4 x8 y8 M# O6 ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 V6 n. y# \: @+ x
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' T+ }$ N: I% k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" A' @- J( F. K$ c% }private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; Q8 F# T5 @. lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. u4 [/ }; c7 c% B2 I9 \! [3 p5 J
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 U$ d6 b" G- r# G8 U2 t2 Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 [$ `$ i+ k1 l; Msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 A k, X. ~. B1 l8 @* F) T% o' ~- pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 w" S7 g1 D6 m) l$ r& L+ m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ x7 d1 o% Q J) [8 ^* _: p) I9 \' wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% }' c! g( {: ^# E
charge the fee defined by the state. c7 i% O9 d8 t q) D
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# C: u- x) p: A" }) t9 i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- ?# m0 H; P1 G, L" G% v2 g
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* ` C1 c _- m# }6 U( xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# z5 N" g9 `7 H. M; \( P; i8 v, U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# J+ p5 I, c$ D; U" Sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 s1 ]$ b# Z. d5 |; c( }
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 `: k* v! z5 I, X, L- T, Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( G- x% N/ k9 r* P E+ D: a1 strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ }$ |5 R$ M. I: U8 y* n: N* ]6 uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" {1 E* }" I* M ?" t {2 d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 S5 R5 ]1 j* S3 h ~: w
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 | [. N6 p: L! K5 Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) v1 u7 N9 C- _! D' e8 @$ sare spaces./ [0 _6 r) y8 q$ \! t" B: \" H" ?
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi% W% H6 u, s W& v2 L( x' a% ^8 m3 w4 e
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
c+ c/ H, c: e( {own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; p; \/ }0 ~1 Z+ |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! _: A5 z; w* E' Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' F+ Y& P( a- }/ Xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ H" y# F u& A6 p' }! J& Hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' G* V5 _- |, \
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! @7 p f a% [( q2 g1 D1 g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 h! f, u) w% O9 V$ q
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
