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 u: B8 Y0 @, S* K2 g& ?6 D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. s/ R* A% N# a0 fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 ^1 L! a( G" Q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" N3 u. P4 x! G- eanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. m) b3 U; n6 r% W' A45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) j- ?: g" K) o9 cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! z# ]; s/ X& N+ G$ I. F
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( |! a" J/ @! h) v1 Y4 G
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, |( E, o' u) S" Smedical schools.2 M4 e5 d6 P7 M- _! H
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ h4 T; T% m' [6 X& u, wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! w$ x' A% t' }1 R# |" D5 N) y3 ]9 A
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; h% M& A$ J: Z, O2 o- x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) S# Q! z$ o& h
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 r) ~2 _2 I7 _9 k; ?: m5 A
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 m. l2 s& c6 U _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 |& ^% _% ^/ g. I7 ^2 omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! Y% Z, O- b; m: Z2 i9 j4 d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 f, l; y2 o8 _3 E' X# x5 Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' K- D+ K* P! o. X' q
5 D$ e9 G4 Y; q" e, `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) [1 `8 Y* l* {3 @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- N3 y o5 Z2 {# s9 N
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" v$ r7 g% ?/ _
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( l4 y& Z, A) J% Mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 k' N6 s4 K* W2 T& Asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. R/ P0 G, Z" {3 w# ]2 {2 F; X2 Fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' S5 J& j) z4 R( c: h: W6 I
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ L' p4 v- \0 M# }4 _$ A! na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 B) k5 ]6 \- L, [
charge the fee defined by the state.
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5 j+ B, x; H- F& B$ e" F7 aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( {+ Q- H3 C* Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ W# J. L6 ^6 H; E# iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 V" p1 l9 ?1 e5 F7 Q: U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 V+ n1 Z% S9 {0 `( e3 sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" S3 L, \' w _( |" b1 T3 W
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 l& Y; D/ ~& c! z8 F6 l" k$ B
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; Z i/ r$ \- W" C$ H
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ C S3 g7 d- u: X+ e+ c' ?trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* a, g) B- |* z5 }hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 Y" w2 Q; E2 G9 n8 z' O8 B* Q) y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 G" o3 v% X7 ^5 Yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 M9 J# J, V* v. \; p- D- pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ f# K" w u1 Y6 q" f# I9 j% J
are spaces.; Q( L3 {/ v) V1 K& [' Z4 t
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi _& _% k) {6 b& G) V3 y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: s! [* C( R, w% A) n% b' J1 i& l gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
i. P! n. }# L! Y! O) W8 V40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* {" q% G/ M* m/ s1 W3 A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* U4 @, N1 X% d' k$ b' Hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 Z4 L) h% G" @' p' q5 t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ ^0 m4 C) w2 |8 E& k7 ]0 ]car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 @7 H5 Z3 p A, _* _7 Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ S9 m; j! p* C+ s We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
