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
! ~% S6 ~- B. B0 {* A$ C! y0 Z7 |standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 A# b: {* T |5 D. G& P7 S- X, [5 Won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# o! E. s! O S! P5 f$ \
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 d# x y) T3 P' |; q( Janswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) H9 t. s( e4 d
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# _ Q( n! E& b; {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 u3 n& O% d8 {/ B3 vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 M" a; b* ?; P/ u4 C# `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) h+ `0 W$ }! H) Q4 ~
medical schools.2 a8 _0 N8 C$ i$ Y1 t
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 d, g% N, O' r; a, M: H/ wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; K( T4 { s5 }4 |6 |. I9 Z5 rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ X- ?1 O+ a- a; ~
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 X! e0 @' y# P: P2 ?3 s, O7 ~. ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# P# W2 | v) Q5 O: f8 h
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; q- ^( Y- E+ Y0 y) K/ d _, x3 fseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. v' I z% J; j W1 E r
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) ~5 B! H; ?$ x: Y# B5 A, b& ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" n7 }8 x/ F; y7 K! zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
f* L- y( v9 o4 _; b3 `6 y1 lprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ d, n/ ^- N2 s Ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* D4 g- k6 N: T* u2 n$ a
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 n7 {$ H- X N7 u1 l, gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* ?" G* d7 U3 W
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# `! B- _6 J. ^7 f" C+ M% e( C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& ?: M7 t- m8 T0 `6 `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 l' K; G; d' d9 a" Z" B
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: [9 z: p& |7 D. echarge the fee defined by the state.
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$ K8 V4 n0 o6 Q# v8 BThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% h2 o1 V+ [; |; pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' _% Z! d- m: z; I$ d
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% `* v$ ]6 j- e; E( n! I
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: f6 u% S' \: d6 k5 \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 f) N# D2 p% I4 r! H# n, @) V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' L2 B% k, i7 K! k3 N, K2 F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 z S, P5 X0 b1 i& r; k2 jyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 g, f7 D3 [# B4 B3 z9 x" ]( [. I
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 b2 n- x; ~' A7 ~9 h# G" l
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' G* ]9 k! G: p! d% \5 C
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 x( Y; I) J8 F: w: O9 V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" s* e, j- E5 v
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 \ h. R& J' p+ s/ z2 g% z! L
are spaces.1 Y4 {* p9 k1 |- J& Y o1 d( ^
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 d+ l Y1 n( K: r
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' s+ m, U$ _% t* D [
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 p, m- j k2 K4 H) F% k' W40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; W) Q0 t$ g0 {" P+ Q, gparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) o; ~1 S* E1 ^% m y/ q7 N( `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& Z# v/ Q: Q; ~6 S
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- ~- |8 L1 g( ~7 ~& j0 D/ h
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- d' a# f Z8 m% i/ Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 i+ W( v% |9 A- v4 F: r( L8 T8 [
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
