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
6 s O* t3 ^( `+ F X6 Dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* m( J2 \* d. J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. A- D( g4 e, \8 v"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" [2 ?/ S4 I& J2 _ z! F
answers to our pointed questions.
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, [- F: z; Z4 v$ N' a5 |2 L' zThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 E U# z( [+ E; @# D8 h" i
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 S: z) ^. x; {1 z; F- j2 f0 j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 B; d% M' @/ |! b1 v
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& D- ]" ]& }/ }4 Q0 s; Uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
3 v. K2 Z, F; K0 s. k: fmedical schools.2 }1 v, N7 a( U# y- C) e$ Z2 u3 q2 q9 H- H
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 H: S% @0 g. T
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants M7 C. d# {5 Y/ Y& P: A2 z0 T" n
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& ^& j$ `! c; p) n5 k- X! q3 n( C
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* k$ C( n% r3 i' t
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 n4 b3 E8 e. ^1 H4 vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
- m7 l# B) O+ M/ C1 dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& T5 G5 P# Z1 @; z1 r
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) M1 }, D# }7 g1 J( |% Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
z( o6 ?( U isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. `) l- U- P9 Y1 J$ I
. ]" @$ B5 U8 S9 C3 }: @: yThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
& ~( a2 W) j% @ S9 zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* N. v8 X+ ~; } X7 J0 b' J5 B" s
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 L& y/ V" Q) z; S/ t {) V
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# L5 l1 b& R/ o6 U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 z2 i& Q0 i! T1 `: Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( h) h$ x# ~4 @4 \" mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; a8 P D" ^# P0 S% MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; G) Y+ p1 E4 c# B2 w
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 l( H/ e `- y% E/ p# `charge the fee defined by the state.2 ^0 K8 S4 ?* H3 o- `
2 h# |$ z/ q+ F' _: M/ r. x' I# UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* P- r1 u' A. m+ [3 f# J9 Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) J6 H& d2 }' j" v! b0 P
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 q+ N1 D: S' n S& C8 Ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
I; u# n% t( v4 hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# o# s- a' _" c5 b8 Eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, b! Q, u2 B% \! j/ g, O) c- u
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# b) h0 x2 K) a7 T, [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 `- K0 S( g+ J8 z+ |* G: Ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 k; o' l# Z, d. rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 I/ E* I' n6 T4 S) Q( c" |
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# j* L! o: z ~
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
Q d r& Z9 Z; k3 Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 l4 r' R; A1 n$ [) Uare spaces.
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. H+ D h! z, l5 A; P: x3 X% MThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 a/ X6 Y1 ?' G8 }% V0 p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! z* y+ U. X9 }4 L* b* gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: u7 y* s" j8 [" p: Q( S8 O- k! l
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" V3 r$ h. n2 \- b1 L) t
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 O) t0 m0 I' E& mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ Q) ]/ T# V9 a( qnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 N, k/ \+ f+ X6 \1 pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ h4 G: a) ^# ^$ U# O7 E7 H2 O
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 E% Z- n' i3 W- h$ W* Y We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
