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) J- A8 w: Z" _7 f9 z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% c# o8 N5 F- k3 ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# x1 p1 D: ^8 s: A6 u"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, v* w& M4 }* j/ H/ V% Sanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% N, a% O' w; q( @% W4 B
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 _# u3 {+ G( S# jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 v0 Z+ \/ U% n8 C- { H
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 o5 ^2 ~) E+ h+ Uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" u0 e. {' g) U. R' v/ Bmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 d) _# w g" R- Z Z% a0 W/ L
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 C9 |# C( h9 j6 F7 H, j
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* ~2 S K, U9 ^* i, C* lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! \- m# m5 \6 B: N, i* Q z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 S0 D4 L& U' Z& g, `, \) \& iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 B% s9 }6 M+ ]" V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" j$ c3 K7 p7 X6 A& {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& g$ w; E% K1 D- X; _. r4 rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 P3 S o6 \' O2 S
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; v. C2 r J1 [) L* c
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
' e* F' q2 I3 B) Q7 S) xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( }0 h4 J9 R7 _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 z) A G: a$ f! E+ C- d9 P0 x/ c
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- Y) J: r1 [/ S6 `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ u8 e$ }3 t6 s# ^
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! B; ]) [) _/ G) Y/ P1 k8 ]- O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 K1 M/ h& r* \" J9 S
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 ?# `7 s; U+ Z4 ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. B- h" H b% F& f0 R
charge the fee defined by the state.
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& m; Y, h& K. t: I) M: m/ T: |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 [1 L( {5 @( C7 t& t' G( ]: D
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ o F+ o4 L, ?of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 H; X4 T) U; q( @: S7 ^. g/ g6 Otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
, N% t v5 b# h1 W4 f, jseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; v7 l& v2 h' K% P+ C/ y6 \0 h# y9 D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ S& c7 C& q$ s& u* w oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" Z1 S( D; [0 y; P
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# ]" n& c2 B" x8 |! E# k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 v1 ~8 ?) A/ U( [1 I3 K0 q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
# j @- Q3 u6 Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 @: O% W8 p" b$ ^& e+ \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) g; y0 x, Z4 t Q) a+ t; }1 Pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ ~! A0 N5 `: }; m5 {6 M/ B- ?9 |
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 ]5 K2 F/ S& U# L. O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( R& T/ S* B3 Lown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 G# P8 t$ F; j* t; u% W1 E4 d' l2 o6 ]
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ ^7 Q8 ]% Y( o" i9 j
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* b1 t3 b- c) x+ v, [best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ V& e! `) R! D( R0 Q [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
a h6 o" u9 x: r# f0 gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: I s. P- H, `* ~
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., P- |- T, v" {" i4 h
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
