我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 U0 \# k" ?1 M& D; h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; Y/ `4 f* Y0 p! s7 `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 j$ K+ i& [9 e( ?6 a- u
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" q4 s; }7 O: v N
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, z0 J; [5 P( Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 ~7 c( D1 h' r
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 ^# q& g8 p" }' N3 n# r
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; Y$ E, ~' U" Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 Y7 U: ~) [* h9 h# L9 R, ~0 ` emedical schools.. G, H9 A" @- B# C* }# G M# B& C
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ j7 Z3 ]0 D# e+ q3 f1 f6 pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 i+ P y* N# oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# g4 q* y) a, D, ^9 X8 {; N4 vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. U& S' ^( k9 S! V$ r0 {
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) j- F+ ?% h8 O& t+ P6 G4 X/ B
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& l+ _7 U4 K& Kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ |! o$ b, O+ I/ Y$ `7 Umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) y/ m- |1 Z1 @5 ?4 ^) f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ l( |$ O+ m& [+ _0 g Dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
p1 W8 X n0 v2 }) cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* m7 {# H/ s# n8 P8 P* o! D W
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% c' B( A. W0 g& q, s! Qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: C7 j7 b7 Y5 @
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. Q! M/ s6 \0 G$ n* |
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ y' b6 L% b) r& Z4 Vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 {& a+ p, w8 H9 `! E( M
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# K2 c6 b$ h/ o, ]* r' L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( W+ t3 ?' [* X8 Z' |, @% v+ rcharge the fee defined by the state.0 M* z+ I: A6 i/ f& l
% H! r; a9 J; p# l; S3 X5 LThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ _, }0 }) a0 W. i6 d0 B9 [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ w+ m" m0 X- {- a8 E; g( H7 u
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 K6 Q. H/ o6 x5 _; wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ \! d) Z& t5 \- @7 n" L9 Rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 t+ e2 K9 O; Uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, L6 X! r& {4 T7 F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& h0 v B1 f' o* ]3 y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. u6 I! z9 {# {2 e& `4 M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
( g* a9 l' o: f, r, ghiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, N! n/ U" p5 H4 Y$ {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 M1 B2 j$ h$ `- G' O2 D9 z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 j( Q& L7 J5 {: l* _6 Dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% M7 V3 h2 n5 C+ @. X7 _are spaces.& C u. ~- D, E- R) d% d q4 A
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, D5 I2 ~0 K0 t" ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 I) p. ?1 ?+ E7 f+ j% X3 Cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& m: c( k [" u- y4 y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! b$ L8 } i" s
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 c/ X+ V6 B) f, Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ j. [3 O% g7 I ^- h# s
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 j+ }7 P4 c# x9 Y, b- I# \car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! U6 t7 h, V3 N: D% i$ u7 `) }
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 A, ?4 A$ h1 { u/ s+ v3 e1 @
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
