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& `/ z8 b# ^( ]* n, @* i
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# L4 n# O1 s d; [1 H7 G# Fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 G ~9 G3 C4 h6 B" Y- @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& K0 V: [+ r; k$ \4 ?1 Q8 S
answers to our pointed questions.) y2 U) l2 T3 o4 r9 g) S
. ?# v& s$ e- n% r+ W$ S! A9 kThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 f2 P( N# U2 }& e' d Q& V* Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! m# w" [+ o6 v3 D5 e# k, R1 F7 u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: ?9 |% I; a4 H2 g8 p' U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 d# L7 v; a! Zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ [6 |7 Z5 A: \6 g6 M5 }
medical schools.5 h+ c% }: p0 c
6 S, U' l; I8 k% fEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) e6 U8 w3 l- n6 B% A" t, i/ Ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! {+ Y+ O# B- x+ Y. y1 K1 bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- F# H2 t6 k2 V: \8 S! vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; Q) l4 q) m) L C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
+ J0 B3 y! ^8 Q; Wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There) r) g$ ~ N o2 _4 H) p P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* A. t9 ^ W* p6 x( L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, I& [ w5 x, l8 u% rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; m+ d# l9 T8 ]8 C0 ^) asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 ]2 M2 q, H0 l, e, Q2 N. ^
0 e% }4 n( i% ^1 `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 s6 a) D- d8 x9 \0 j* T& |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
a9 H# g( F) ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. z+ w. N! @$ Z5 S! _0 v. x
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ W+ F& y0 }9 |2 k7 Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 T* {# K% v6 r; Z% zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# L0 a5 A4 F: P2 E
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 K; Y; k0 a' \; RDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ o$ }9 ~6 J Y t ?) }a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 v9 U% q% M" |: o% dcharge the fee defined by the state.4 H9 \; p* f) E# w' x$ ^
: v7 p1 V: W4 g1 M- U" r, B" F
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 `4 ~: w2 Y2 ~on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 z; M% |4 X% M- @4 ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 P" `; ~! w# ^
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: |; U. @3 W; t% ^. D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 g$ k4 h& I3 Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! R: }. k2 m- p7 o+ J& G8 J' ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' Q" E9 V9 G I" ~6 syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 c& B; c4 \5 J/ y; X. P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 M7 L' {* Y9 \4 p$ o0 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- s/ H+ v4 t) `% u9 j
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" z' U h4 A2 I1 F$ t/ Uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 u, c+ H/ x' g' I+ @buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# u, S- B+ L' [6 J7 Iare spaces.6 z8 i5 v# \; ]& x- R1 c& C J
1 J1 u5 P* z* I& W- O
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 q1 _* Y; ^! f$ Q+ F+ N7 D& Y3 N
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( x4 {) Z, f" P0 p8 u; H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* y m# ]" K$ s6 A" y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 X% x* |! g0 _ Y' |. a' L
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 r! s' i( o9 mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) |- u3 R3 c& Gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; l3 y- V; v- N8 Q7 X
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ T- w/ r, i# e% B3 O: Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 p9 p8 R8 P! q6 x& S! {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
