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) G9 t. W$ W+ A3 B/ Y4 e
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( V6 Z/ z0 r- aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 J* ?+ B1 F% a' F( }6 J"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) z% |8 ?( ]' D8 t. q/ k L& k8 u* J
answers to our pointed questions.
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) o3 O0 L2 l( S* a' Q# ~The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* Q9 \2 q9 t" r- F. h
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* ^+ e# _8 I+ l* T$ M3 h' Yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 X& Z/ P. v4 Q' H: m
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 M2 T/ W/ W' v* H& k: Hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
+ v. b k3 Q' x+ t4 xmedical schools.3 |9 g! L$ B2 L4 ] I4 `
/ y! Q3 q, z5 p; v. L O! rEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
4 z c) _$ j/ a$ C: m7 q4 ~government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 c: B6 O7 |) O( Z% a0 xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" M" ]0 G5 i; U! L, b4 X+ Z# n+ q5 Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 N4 [. s! l' c1 f6 O1 l* p8 T
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ S \' L* K( F8 _: v, ]
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& x w# `3 E6 Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; c" d5 [" r6 P5 M T: J2 e
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" O5 B4 x1 L( b4 c) c% J
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ J% D+ B5 [9 asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 r3 M; H2 m7 _1 p4 A2 O: t5 Q9 m. ?
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 d' `+ k( F' w2 y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& t2 G, `# u/ a) fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! P3 m3 B( K2 G" L& I3 M- Vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 f' f0 P4 z7 v- ]thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 a' q1 O' ? w) ?: v$ @sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, W) Z, e/ S' F! I+ @: \& ~" Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
4 U0 ?6 ~ b# }. ]. m* Z7 n. B: @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& i: U c: l% p+ {8 \
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! ^- R- Y( f: \7 h9 Gcharge the fee defined by the state.) S8 g$ h$ f+ d$ V
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& P7 Z, T4 K0 w2 v ~- Q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 n* r# s6 S, f9 s2 S Z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: n8 S1 b4 u! N! [& btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ r1 W5 b5 p+ \: d$ \/ [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. }2 E) L$ T$ E. |+ F& |working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& W. B( r D# f0 l4 `! }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 ` H; I$ A5 |& ` vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" G* x$ }8 `* b5 a: l( ]$ G$ S
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 C! A- W) L! F0 U0 J4 R- |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# W3 N+ W$ @- Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 a, H, Z# T# W3 M) C" N+ _
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- \9 m$ g. C- C2 S0 j
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 c7 ]) ` q/ d
are spaces., W% q* E: ~2 b1 p$ w
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 n9 x2 N8 \; @+ ^1 @/ G: I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 K6 V8 e' q; p; i9 Y( h v2 ]! l0 F8 kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 b: y; a# T3 W i% {$ c2 q( J" i% R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ e! e( D5 |- ?parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; Y0 d& M) B" G! W+ d! b' U i# F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 X- ~+ r s" xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; q0 X% \6 G' y9 [9 ]- a* g0 I4 bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# a; N1 ]- _$ n0 [2 W
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 F( E, A9 H4 Q
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
