我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 |/ x9 e) v1 S9 t$ n; K! E0 [- v
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- p+ ^% A) ]& l' gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," N4 G5 v$ O) _; ]
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; w7 R; P }: O& [. i% ?" d: ?
answers to our pointed questions.+ e2 `6 Q( o8 X6 s
' G) }0 G4 d" O$ j5 bThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 s1 m( x8 o3 i# ~9 K6 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ i1 E1 c; J6 G5 ?" s3 A ]+ Nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- L& G( f6 ]& B: f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ U$ C; [6 z1 u3 e; v! v
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ f+ y& R3 H) Q0 b: m
medical schools.
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: }* U5 W# V) K4 AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 i6 Y; ]! q; r' Q5 B$ o5 R8 }0 [. egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 R4 H& X: [* Z" J% c. x! T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 H* |: k7 h7 hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' a7 C! e- ~ f8 @) a& R
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 z2 v* _& R8 S0 Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 [' @0 q, _$ E0 z+ s- d8 V* a
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 f$ f& s) ^+ G- Q( M- J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& J: \ Z8 l, n- s: }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 o2 w9 Q6 f* [: E7 b# Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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% e' ?# K% q, {& nThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
}% r! \6 `) j* n* U+ nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
E3 {$ L1 v- I0 D1 b9 ^- Msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- a4 `' t& t9 q$ q6 Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) b1 o' l! J4 Q% X+ k+ Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ b, g9 G% T8 } Z( j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 ~8 i6 R. ]# G; `) e1 ~# Idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., D: g: z# H0 P; V j m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( ~1 |! e8 Y- U. j% Fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# y9 @0 X$ Q* |% L+ O/ w
charge the fee defined by the state.
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6 z2 T- j# W4 x; @There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& B i$ A* F" Q4 c, u2 W! g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( ^# H- j8 Z' Y. x* T! a( Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 S( d7 R, X2 a# ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 |4 @0 r# x# }! F( }seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 h$ U% q$ [4 z Q0 i" f* \working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
p, w2 s( P( \$ {schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 e3 o* K! t5 H& r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ f1 L$ B' D$ Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) X7 e: q0 s# e8 S" p5 Ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; H: s# e8 m2 k3 W3 w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 }( n' A/ Z9 e# V0 wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' T- r& c7 i+ O6 X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! ? \, ]# q: p
are spaces.6 r" O1 q5 ]6 h( |* ~' o
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 ^9 u+ s1 o: ^9 {2 dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 [- ?! ~- E- w4 @own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, p, c/ A* O5 Y [5 E9 w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& j7 k" r; V L' K# @
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% o; p$ `; ?; z8 [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! k5 B0 F7 r- `+ U! }8 Snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% a) y& O6 W& ?9 `$ b* B
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) G8 I! Y9 }1 W# ~4 ?is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 `( D: K! G% o0 ?+ B We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
