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
/ f9 g* Q+ r5 q1 e0 I+ [/ wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. N$ j v e. ]& m' [' _on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. S2 A1 s) p+ b7 V& {9 i5 N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
n9 c. M- \7 E1 C; g! @. Banswers to our pointed questions.
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% U4 P; o/ y% [5 T8 M0 x5 y% ~, {The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% A s; c$ Y" T- ?3 d+ m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 a; Y4 U! M% g3 C) ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 m" F# j9 v! Q: h# g, Yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) J& q* R$ z3 r9 e% l* u0 i/ \: ]& ~# zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* v6 Q. _- X! j6 b" ]' y, q
medical schools.
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- E0 Q/ k' \4 j; W0 a: v3 MEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
G C, O8 c9 u) v+ N) h" y& hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! r$ P' {( B% o& F2 p, d
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ ^$ D w- a0 G' p4 [4 Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. K6 H( h" w* {' K' Z/ Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! |0 n8 \5 i( i) f/ c/ c8 g
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 m. @. m% H: {7 aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 I/ V% I Y9 |+ z" A1 C/ nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ q* z8 g0 X9 n5 g4 _# d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some @! U& O: \$ y2 `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 T9 e0 e9 u _5 o6 j* D7 }3 W
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( |& C# W, {8 _/ e* H, h
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ C/ s" R, D1 c3 X
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 O- ~+ h% b& A" D3 H+ r' |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good r' g/ T( P$ l4 X+ Y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& T' n- H/ H* n, psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 }3 w! e! {9 q5 @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; [. E( R: o0 }: E) QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" q1 F4 z' I! o6 p4 J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) g" J8 e+ N5 [. l$ B% Z
charge the fee defined by the state.' [ ?1 k. [0 `
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# U9 \& w. l2 a/ J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- L; p1 H2 M: }* P% e, Q* Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 Q, Y% t' g" p% n/ d. Utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 v9 G. W* a: z! W
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. H0 Y D/ \+ I: c' j9 I, q7 G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ f( i8 i9 g$ E
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! M* X/ p1 r" n3 m' y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* I- o& e$ A% v, T" a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, u# ?' ]) W- h+ x5 {
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: J- c+ e/ S9 g( V( X, ?4 Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% D W5 S) Z1 _7 W) vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, r" d7 D) u: n/ o# ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; B% c C* _4 p2 E- x4 I2 L
are spaces.# g2 U( e, J2 W% b* u* v3 S" E8 U8 b
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) k% b4 t$ t5 `% {8 F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' p i2 L: m& C
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& C, F% p+ X' j7 E2 @
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" w" F" f0 D! J) d/ t, s' l: K
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" {7 u9 E4 H8 z" L3 |- |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ @5 p0 V; j$ m9 Y8 N
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- D( ?& |( J7 G' q+ Q4 X
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* K& _& k, h) T" A8 y' Y8 t
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 ^7 r9 I! |# s We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
