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/ y9 k- \( k) z5 z1 \
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ @# \8 a$ t$ q( i3 r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, |, J. s; |% Y8 z7 z0 g3 a& |8 J"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 R& Y8 u; N7 U3 A! p% q
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ R; D* C& e% x7 P+ s1 o+ g0 @: L
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ A! t4 P' g9 _" p' hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 y0 n- m0 O" N1 x. M8 T. [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 Z7 q8 d6 Y+ m& [to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' n* n f4 i6 m- }4 k3 ?medical schools.( E( P+ G7 F8 ~! L* u
: I+ F$ M) U. A1 d/ sEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 y/ A4 n" T0 A5 Pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* S# X7 I& I" t% m$ @5 T, |to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 a. g- o. T8 t* y; Z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ q, }! m2 j, q ?is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 J" p0 ^; h4 V6 _
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* u5 ~& s) `7 D9 hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% D+ V- ]4 W9 }' a/ m1 d( D) u0 Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# b& ~ s! V4 m' o% L8 Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: a$ e+ p/ l2 F6 A2 @8 Y! \$ Hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- T( c5 J) J1 o2 o
( b$ `( x$ x# z! x: v. y FThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, \& f8 D5 h Rprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and @ m; ]. J3 E3 X0 v; \4 k1 K
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* q% s6 W1 D. u
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 U+ h5 g h5 g8 Z% h- ~& K- P/ [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 Q" U+ Y1 y) @sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' l% X& e8 H5 ?5 S# O* idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. D, t0 m' P- h, g" j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( S3 X; w D5 m! @1 s& D0 m$ _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# Y3 [1 ~8 C( A/ T4 f9 l, b
charge the fee defined by the state.0 N, k; J' T4 \+ w7 r7 x) u& s
+ x1 z7 A) A+ e; u% W" _8 Q. v, U( VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 I* T# v' I; B
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 V4 |6 [3 D. }" Y- y1 w+ o* |' ]
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; r9 y1 n* ~; \! P4 [1 w$ g" D" f
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 X3 Y, x E. j) m: [1 g3 Mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, D2 k2 L2 J2 J, q* i' b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
$ I4 C' f1 M; k9 `0 Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
e8 A2 j/ |4 ]# lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: g, v p1 ^* V5 ?9 |+ e' a1 }trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! ?7 I. j7 |3 `1 p+ O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 j! m4 \9 c3 s S0 ?
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 L& u# ?* H0 \* F8 k+ R1 u# |/ L# l
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" l) e) A& H$ v8 |- tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 e( t" c W# ^) V7 t7 t2 H1 Tare spaces.5 I! h& _, w7 A* T4 l+ g9 X
/ s1 y0 S- T; xThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
4 ]" l& d9 \2 g+ V1 t- Rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; s, n2 Q% @' Q. a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, @, ~9 G5 F! y6 ]40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 ~! f R0 I4 m1 K$ a, l9 nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) F* M2 l2 s- Z$ e" S' }, m
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- t- l7 P8 R# n7 N, n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 G" I; O3 d8 d. Qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( p E+ j v" T7 O% wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ X! l- z7 R: P, }7 D7 j. E
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
