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/ }( v9 H8 R [9 ]" B P& t
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" w/ I5 }, t7 u0 F. e: x9 P2 Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 b8 K) h3 g7 P4 m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 O0 w% a' I& S5 M$ c# h' l5 z! tanswers to our pointed questions.1 G0 Y! f6 }- S- M, l; N9 U6 R8 j
6 E: y7 y, P( y& i7 dThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 [- ^/ T/ A# V7 |
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ H+ s8 m" n, H' P" O1 H1 lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ B/ W: z; Y( c, _" E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 O0 u" M2 Z: I2 g, [3 _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ I. ^7 L' Z) e
medical schools., Y6 ]' X1 Z- P( z& n y
) J3 n5 g1 M( g% v5 M' n; _Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# J5 @; k) S" a' A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. H- k( @ B5 C& U$ J Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ [: T1 y1 y; k' S( H* C; J) e' G5 q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 d0 \6 \: \: P* c. s% }/ N/ n
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- S' A& t4 \6 W3 A( X3 G
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. V$ D# h$ Q; A0 D
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# F/ u, D& V4 f9 R( v9 Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( m# t7 a) m/ u# P. j# ]shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# T; ^5 I& W! ]5 g% d* dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 z9 S' r% `$ q6 Q* Z E
& e2 t {8 ?. J* u. g0 lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; w. Z/ p; W c! M
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ _; V+ b8 s7 @
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, P( |9 {. q; N$ a( Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ f) V" R9 [; y; Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 }+ O1 E/ q) l2 k6 o. k
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ [8 Y2 @' w2 j8 j
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% x/ b5 B# ]5 E6 z. D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 h& @) G2 _$ R8 Ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 V# k+ H. k) z1 S) hcharge the fee defined by the state.) e4 r4 T2 u! P- M+ ^& s
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 ^- c0 a5 v; P. p! R: \5 yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& k' b) L( h/ Q8 r: `, O. x
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' q0 A9 x; b8 Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: k4 v: z' p; e+ o- Y3 r% Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 Z% ^/ z. f/ f7 b& L$ t' h {working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& @( b# C J! R \! a
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, ?, n' {* U c4 Y1 f4 C& n2 g( Pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: M$ l( {2 i# j; R7 G) J7 g6 Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) P2 T4 _% R6 S8 H/ g" G* |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" ?$ M& l0 y6 [: R2 speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% F/ z2 [' o c* }2 p7 d
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% m" [0 ]8 | q% ?" ^buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# a9 o: I* ~. s8 @+ o6 p( M- v
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) V, C/ D8 x, J- r' p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 k: o R" }$ v6 P
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 z/ \0 i. B" e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* ?- k; Z1 v. W1 D; ^. E3 T+ W
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) {: Z" x* ?! i1 P9 y. N: Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
0 N; W0 P' L* U8 n) unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& [: @' \; p) p* o Bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& N) Y7 d7 X+ cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 d3 y3 N- }% [ e, g( ?$ ? We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
