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
M5 v/ Q8 z, Z7 Q; @standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! T6 i8 h$ v( T5 f
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 V7 h% V" F( k6 T5 t( J. w: Z" n- L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 c/ i- j3 U9 u Manswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# z4 h6 _: _, E( c2 O% ^) [6 S0 @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 K1 K8 c% W# X- m. |+ \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, S% ?- G5 ~3 W; @free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& v7 k6 z7 p4 |) R6 `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; X1 E, }7 I$ Q7 ]; p
medical schools.
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. @+ D; N% R, Q/ [: F$ {/ N$ O; eEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 b% R1 n! q! S1 p5 cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 A1 A; f% I8 ^to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: ^6 [$ i: t \; M/ G9 i# Q! cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) G! {6 b% z# n1 Y) V( sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to N- l: ?% w5 V+ @% U/ Y7 V
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 Z* z& c( o% Q' f- A$ Z- @) v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* q7 M, \2 r% q6 L' E i3 bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 ~# @$ F1 k5 N
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" f% [7 {$ C( T7 ] a6 D! a& A9 f$ csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 A, U4 \: \& J+ V) I) p
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ Z* u1 u- Q4 Z8 Rprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) h6 u) Y h! W# Y9 x; e, {
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! ]6 z3 {) ?5 u9 a8 R+ B3 Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- W/ H1 x9 R& l9 T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 }8 t, F8 q! M1 d4 X/ c5 Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 h& M9 k# E$ S2 K; u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- d/ Z$ t" u2 s
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ U9 ]: n" M& ?
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 G( `4 C, y: m' k- \& J/ b
charge the fee defined by the state. \0 @, s- H% W6 \; p7 S* C3 ~
) s! C$ ~7 q4 A/ c( D+ IThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& S+ B5 K1 N4 h6 T' f" v' A) Y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ I8 ^" B, E- _8 D' m# W6 v
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 B/ [. y! o' Q" {- ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" [' X$ P+ w7 m- s: t8 s7 C+ \) f
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: n( o2 O Y' y6 I; c. j+ `9 j* _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, f- `* v- P9 J* |
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 y7 x3 i/ |5 G- i( ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, G, h) {1 ~8 ~; j$ u9 \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 H: ~1 P$ R7 J/ n7 ^5 N4 r
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that0 y' M: @; ]+ x u" z2 s+ D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; O1 v$ A$ u3 t! s9 B; k# Hto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 o* W/ n1 D* A* L% l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 ~% j4 a# ]; R; R2 P
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ B' V2 A. b: D6 h6 `
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; @& q2 y# m0 c- f3 k
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 `: D% [/ g' A40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, I4 {: u# y, U# D# eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% G' ?+ g, V5 Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 ~. h w( k& ? i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& Z+ t1 n" Q2 I/ O8 P; wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 g3 r# g" K1 ~ n S- E$ lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; t& l. B4 y% H9 `/ d& T/ I
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
