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: F* S: t" i6 m% q' @0 X
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; [3 {; Q. n4 O& |5 g l( Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, {) N. i: }* x; j( x7 a
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
8 U, `% y' Q0 F+ g; k! v9 H N" @1 Ranswers to our pointed questions.$ ~( N& l8 H8 M2 x$ X
. p# y' d8 P" ~% {, n: z: g4 `# UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 [! k* g9 G( [) T9 e6 R45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 O( Z( t' y7 H( {* T9 ?/ [
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 w: s; P5 ]. E/ d' Y( k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' U. y6 m* i; h M: ^/ Z. qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# H9 s# x- s6 ?+ h
medical schools.) C1 `- e. t! I& K
% J! U+ u) a" y8 G! _! tEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- v5 v9 L ^7 ~5 Ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 J4 A, e B+ T9 x# V7 Wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ _! t4 G+ e2 Gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 C5 x0 I" z. z6 H! Q) u/ }
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 G" o; x+ R( r. h& c7 j
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" ]; D2 G( m- N; u0 j
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 \! Z6 x9 Z+ A% K/ {) Ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" e' }8 c* ~ _5 u1 fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some* @& V6 c0 T A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
: S7 g# S0 S8 ?9 x6 r" {9 B" N6 g' u: S
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. x" O+ e# V6 n- S& [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( ?) g5 u2 N3 O% T' O6 d" _# a1 s
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 U5 W' a0 ^* G% b7 mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) Q! j. U7 i N3 ~3 o Uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- l# L0 f/ U& j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ r8 b8 t2 {! Z/ _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% P2 M$ x+ H) U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 P& P3 @/ ]/ u# j( P9 H1 _) Z; p ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 l3 }: P, e ?1 c2 U! e
charge the fee defined by the state.
) A' y! M2 T `- j7 G+ Q! N) e
9 Z2 O' y0 _( [% q' VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 g, z+ r& q$ v
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- c! } {# R8 P. F7 ?
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. n; b% ?( | h. S5 O2 r# [# Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) I' [( H# H- R' o2 r( q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 x/ j5 ^1 z I1 G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
$ k* A7 E. Q( lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& ~4 n, C! b0 tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( M D' s4 `4 x- T/ Z' N
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 P1 ~' o3 |5 l. J7 a1 y+ Fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 ]2 N1 d& e9 n! I) n
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 x- k. k6 t, w y) g
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 C# i' Z" N0 ~7 a) K {
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there- v1 t' |6 \* d+ y: j( x3 M
are spaces.
8 \( k' Y/ I; _' d: z0 v: n9 Y" P' x
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- z6 Z$ D# P% x b& i8 ?0 X0 f, uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' S" Z" V1 {& q$ B! eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& l' y2 N) l1 i2 Q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 R1 m' K" ~ r( n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' K6 d/ m; z$ H/ T
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; u% }) C5 T8 U0 v
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! Y- [$ }0 X, t& Ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& B4 I" P/ R1 H% ]& mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 |" e9 R! c" `. X9 _5 `+ h/ [4 L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
