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! Q9 j$ i% A, e3 g# U7 v+ c& E
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 g" R* F& h# g! T2 x" W8 Con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: D$ _, ? P2 D* s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ H$ v5 @- i, K! W5 Xanswers to our pointed questions.
6 j+ T- T8 p4 G8 d4 D; J$ l. k! U) _& I
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, x) \' y' k4 Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( O$ F2 o: v$ D7 g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; J% J( k& R. p4 G+ q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* ~' `- @7 U3 ^7 y8 sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 H$ X4 q7 S' w% z% Dmedical schools.: `- Y# Q3 m" v9 c- y$ X
& W S5 U! C: N2 E5 @8 U4 LEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) ^) H, k- F& b7 L. W4 ]0 Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 c# j0 j( f i' c" sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 a( q) ?7 h& p) x2 w1 _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- r! y8 Y# H3 n! @is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 W- D* R6 D6 Y; R4 A8 v2 y4 Z; Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 |+ E3 ?1 \7 {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: _+ k9 {' |2 M, v Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 h3 _& B, U5 c3 t0 z) c% f- @$ @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# B, ]/ \% _3 _, `, z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ a" P$ @% U" x$ f$ C$ R
( R2 d8 Q j& G- O6 u6 l
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ i3 j: c6 Z" U6 Y$ C' [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 u7 q4 p R# L0 ?: hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. p+ M/ G/ b" }) I& l T
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 a: L9 t$ [3 h: L) P* c& \7 v6 }9 Athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. K+ w& M( |$ q- _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 h8 L% V% |$ |$ [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 I5 @5 C1 Z$ W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, a1 ~; x# Q$ U: D. O' c( l% d) K
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ V1 T1 x5 L& w) zcharge the fee defined by the state.
& c* V+ }0 |' n6 d. V+ z/ @
9 o& `* v3 E7 ^ ]4 F5 U& _There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ c+ N8 I: J5 Z( H# A6 \6 }! S1 u7 t% q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, O$ V# |4 L* I0 ^1 R% Tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- @- ~) e5 L6 _( z7 Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 K- T/ w0 U9 x! J3 W5 X; Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' r! ?8 K+ v7 @" H! G; u7 d
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on q9 Z. w% [2 z( S# x8 [/ ]/ v& @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& k" T) ~5 L! z7 V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% B+ O5 Y- r0 Z5 x- B& V
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% U9 i0 S. t0 A' K6 \, Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 ^6 \4 B7 y. Z, b% Ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( h8 s+ @0 I, Oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 J3 i+ f2 [+ d [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 ^' X. s. ~; U. L
are spaces.0 |/ l: `! m+ o, t5 V' U+ L
8 T" ~6 f6 ~& F' [1 H7 A" ?' |3 R& p$ XThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, c4 S! R: [ G m' [
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. T3 m) Y0 E3 ?( t& n, Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. l' V8 j+ x: V3 {8 ~4 {+ X* \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different8 a% o' R+ R+ I* m9 r, q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! T0 o9 d e( }- |7 j5 E( ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ _1 A2 b, `! p5 H8 c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' c) ^% i6 Q1 D0 _& m4 _) A
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) T9 P) g3 E; Z7 Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; ]7 }1 |( N# K2 e, f We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
