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
" V5 n5 I. S8 u% M. _standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% I7 W6 ]6 F" ]4 ]7 O0 gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( o$ U4 d9 n+ K6 R' D4 N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) i4 b6 H, p: ]answers to our pointed questions.* o% Z( `) J- J& Z. `0 @
5 ~' H: L7 i$ m
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 ^: @- C" r6 d8 |8 S9 Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( c! [3 j% O) y* J3 z* T+ kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 H; U+ N( O& n% o1 ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' R9 d2 j! v" @2 o" Z5 bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 F/ t* I( k/ G. e: S/ ]. E
medical schools.4 {- F! }' j ?7 A
' u& K, Q3 Z; K$ u+ nEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 H' f* D$ n$ j8 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 ?0 h- @' n, Eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 Z, J& ~+ }3 }9 S: J1 cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 F& y! x3 Q. v% p# e* X
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; h! E3 a3 L& c8 Mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 Z$ [$ F* [' G0 M, M; O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 T% y0 l& |2 m; x% Q3 s8 l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 G( Q: |2 z2 tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ C8 A) k: w% b/ G) P$ Lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- w; G# l: g/ B) m% @
. d" B* f7 d" Z, J
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 _2 J. N# G6 H+ J& G1 Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 }" n" X- j$ `4 x8 j( V8 R0 Qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 @2 f9 U# V" `+ m, U2 J, |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ ?) s; @+ l- Q# ?0 T1 P6 Othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 e2 U' s$ C& I" @5 o3 _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ D! ]- p9 z" T* Y5 Z( C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: s/ x7 c/ ?1 ^. O+ x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 U! n& y" f( I$ R2 ~1 B+ ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 F% x; ~( Q+ n" Gcharge the fee defined by the state.) ]- H: a% A4 t1 f3 f5 R
* O) y2 b {% k+ k T! g( T2 VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" B% ^+ {2 a' K: F
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. p. B: |9 S* S' q# `, W7 X& d+ Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- z/ {3 j6 `! x( ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, B. _8 e4 x% [# y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ n( M4 z6 }* U' W4 }8 n, [5 L$ Bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- B. `/ r0 m' O* x+ Aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 H2 x) c0 r' D K8 I r! B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* D. ?' @! P' @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 P/ ~# U' |* Q' Y' p* f2 h: Shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 `- O% q3 b# t% d/ A1 V
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 J4 V3 m0 D" N5 ?% i( L+ |
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! M; O+ p( x+ D. V- ]; H
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, O- ?* z9 A/ P* r8 V% N( D# u
are spaces.
5 g4 ~! \/ R4 E
& u% b, I+ _' yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 I9 W) j9 a2 I5 K. \% \! f
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& q ?$ `6 b8 T* i* V
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 O; r. j) M/ j2 k
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! R* S) I p0 v Y* P# J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 p; b$ @# l d$ H' T) Wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( F7 v; Y4 b* {: lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
u' [7 Q; l$ T% Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 C1 B" I) P" c: c, V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! T+ x" z- B0 Q& H2 d! j" r We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
