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% T. \. ~! y* m: y8 o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! s& [' [: b) h( {" X; f9 f/ w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," P) u/ ~3 m& p3 y, R8 U6 A- x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 Z4 m" [& x& L/ Uanswers to our pointed questions.. Y w+ u3 Q6 n% R0 a
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 @0 W U0 n# A1 K
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. ]+ n9 p; s( ~1 U gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 S" e& b4 ?: s8 }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 r- W4 a( k5 e) Q5 z3 j
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) `& i: n3 {0 z0 E; s! I4 l* d9 @8 L" z
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 l% |4 U/ n( c4 O2 [* L& bgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& O+ x! O2 X9 q) p0 p3 [, C
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 B J, L b. S9 s8 a
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
6 S3 X) p9 Y( D0 N) ^. a4 B; wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 f% ^3 h' T1 w# u% Z" Xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ | t$ p( y5 a4 e, f% _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! ^6 m+ m1 q# s9 `0 }, e* N/ Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* i: \! v) p5 k4 L7 j: |2 oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some: y( h6 j9 }2 a: r7 O1 P0 k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., R# \* h$ a0 p2 G. o' ~/ b
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, F0 U1 N* y; a) P
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ N. p5 ?4 A( G ?# P* G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: n5 p" [5 q" }, J
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good v/ V1 b1 f# ]9 Z3 W, r* t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# y m4 S" [5 y" d# [5 \- x% fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! n/ |% {/ H, p3 s3 J% n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 c- Y4 R9 l7 I7 T& k
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
' m/ `! i5 K+ A6 V* E* x# oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 {9 `$ t2 m, A7 ^$ K
charge the fee defined by the state.0 g8 [ q! F$ |# N0 x9 S# S3 V/ G
7 X4 z( E* g2 F& [) `3 O" CThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% q. f; O6 U/ p2 S, {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, ]) r6 D. ]5 B B4 yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 w6 I8 x+ W% j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 F' b& v: p) \* Qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ ~& K+ Q1 t) ?, I: y8 eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 b8 K0 g/ d. V7 H0 M: X' Xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) a. _) E' c! Y8 o! L( ?4 X0 nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ ?$ {. D, s, c% u$ _, l& V" G
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# ?5 x7 k( w+ C) G7 shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 H1 c1 b2 M& K5 [7 m5 \- x4 N& xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 A* ?: w2 b! Xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 Y" [2 B l4 t/ |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
t; C; G* {5 S# L7 k" H# `1 uare spaces.- l$ |/ P x8 D) V+ G& G' e9 g+ s
; l# B; C! j! [There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 y1 N( j$ t9 s7 D5 {7 n- Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% n0 |6 [5 q& @* x) L7 town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 G9 s8 a5 V4 S3 @/ C3 T0 y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different E- S* t1 O( ]0 C; q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; C: r: C1 u4 c* T
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, S5 Y9 P5 ~$ ~. |+ W5 c4 I
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 t- j* _3 k+ Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it2 W- f* q# x# d1 y4 z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 S: f) B0 t6 I+ }5 v We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
