我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 ~5 O& H+ X' ?5 D9 n
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, V& u$ ?5 N# B+ uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' H0 _, w! i! B+ a+ w2 f0 f& }/ M"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 C& h0 G1 c% T' z3 y6 d0 Canswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 T4 A( ], O2 ]+ w45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# R! ?1 H1 x$ Z# N- uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ o7 J+ n% z, S) Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ G" }$ L @$ d( \# y5 H
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
1 a, l: Y* h0 Q! \0 {4 lmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, \$ B h. ^7 L9 C- Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% a; n9 `* x" ?' B* J6 _to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& b' z. }3 W3 i/ i9 z% {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ ~8 F* L8 j; Z! A
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: W6 n' z& C/ G2 t7 c. t& A
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# e- \" c" l1 K& qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ u5 x7 _2 M' G9 c) K& h( ~; w7 Amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' x$ P& J2 K8 e& Y! p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- S, u k' {3 y# I N& _
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 d" `: k1 s' l5 `private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
" y/ Q0 }2 ~1 P: N" f N9 i, |supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 K5 D1 o; f) {8 K7 C" Thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 z9 [2 q4 z9 |+ b
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 S7 B6 j9 L' o$ U. ]% l3 J
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 D4 C7 I4 l6 Q7 Q* x+ N+ ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 ^6 |$ J, D7 u9 C6 q# j% U3 P" T. p
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: W) g2 B# F2 }% c
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
\. c+ z* ]8 W# Q8 n: `1 o" x: rcharge the fee defined by the state.
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; I6 j4 R; @; Q0 K1 N8 |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* s. s: r0 q7 u9 {- \, E& m, G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) p9 q. q% U2 A3 V3 A+ R" d
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- l5 |3 F1 r% e! k+ t8 gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, ~1 X1 b, p' O- u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* Y' k& @7 P6 kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 O. ]: j- [; z2 T8 Bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& F; K3 W8 ]/ J1 c* b7 Wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ v' u# O5 K7 Q( T7 T. f/ F1 l* v
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% t& N# ~' X1 P" ]9 O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 W: Z& p# P& { Q8 @% \( ^ j7 opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# \* q: A0 U$ F
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 r" J7 ~1 U: a* z( n' X5 m E
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ {- {; R+ H r9 q2 n, b" @( y
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ F6 f( }6 _! u" s' Rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" [% ~' k' H) ^own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ q; f7 B4 p# |7 l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' L6 w7 e. \1 r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 n$ y( n( g+ R- @) ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; e/ e' Q+ d1 l* k4 E" [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of F' V: |1 f9 q0 k& e+ ?% X) t, W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& R3 o+ g% ]# ?8 D1 t: his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 f- ]0 A3 k. p: O: [* U, [$ X We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
