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
0 s5 r. _. N& }- }$ j* f+ K- }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( P; ] D: Y4 \2 Q0 w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ u t1 n2 z; t* j0 c"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* R/ U6 C; s" A( Q8 |answers to our pointed questions.1 V Z! N/ T! Z+ N ?" x
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 W$ F" f" \( y2 e3 ~3 m# @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 s$ K) ~2 b! @; P8 C$ H
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& \& e4 d6 V# G
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 L x D+ @. H4 |
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. A6 x+ K1 Y% V) r/ xmedical schools.
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2 v* l2 @2 ?$ ]; h. [3 }: Q2 hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" h% T- ?) N7 w6 b! G) d7 x. ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# A7 e! P+ W2 R" l, Qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 m3 H" F `1 `
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! n5 `- {" c Y( _7 }/ y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ N' E9 v0 A; j1 C5 f2 B* T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* Z2 p0 `. {! F! l" ]) m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) `$ ^( R. }- K( K3 F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) Y: `; { \5 g# D- Zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 Y1 \7 E L( X( N- }6 a
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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1 t* q8 L: @' D* \$ o N' e% N1 _The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" e# j/ V( v' x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ z* M: d% M* D+ i2 j4 Tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ ?: R" M; X3 d+ x, Q$ x* K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 L! t/ [3 \9 M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: F* k- _9 Y: Q/ f' u
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& w" @/ j. }0 W
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 ]1 y5 p- R: X6 o
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* m4 N P/ y+ `1 R8 n% Y7 Q3 wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ _2 @- f, h, j
charge the fee defined by the state.
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: H8 v+ {* N( `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get v, ?: \) `! p. W- D
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& D. b* K7 Y- A! k% g8 Q# Jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ ?* Q5 V& l" {truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- n! M5 y- w2 X) H" o6 \0 H
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( x H; c* s& B7 `! e5 o/ b) Hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( A7 E- m4 {3 \+ P; U% a5 ?6 x# b
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, S! ?! }/ f/ Z ~3 |/ Myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* V! w7 r3 p" T! O$ mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
3 `; ^7 m% L5 h6 p2 N: m5 n6 Jhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 N5 @$ L$ D# L" G5 ]* q0 ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want w& ]3 j' y- @$ S3 j) m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 d" v. S# F8 E5 K7 bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 x! B( L- g0 f, i
are spaces.+ i; f2 t% ?* g( Q* |
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- [+ p# O1 f1 N+ {3 U5 u- V/ M$ h$ ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 ^0 j0 e4 i3 E/ Y- [" Cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
G* J/ F, r# C, q* L G40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: s u! W6 h) @8 Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! D m! w9 ?$ |9 j+ t
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 Z, B) G" T- G: i, enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, D& h* |8 P9 Q; n7 L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 Y& G; B/ z) j C0 p' D1 Ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- i$ B! C: E. s" r8 s; N We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
