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* _+ X& `6 y% q# l' e( [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ M. S, X5 ~' {+ Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% k( m7 f7 B4 l& L* o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( r. o+ N1 s# W* p8 R/ G: y& Tanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ V1 ?! C o( ^4 j: ^3 n" W% `45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 r" [5 a) |" f' ?9 X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, o9 L# J, X9 Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! o1 {4 B% Q2 Y1 J4 x/ }5 Z4 c# Sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ m: j& j) w7 E7 _1 h, d, wmedical schools.0 b( V+ Z/ w' ?) g, p+ Z8 [
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ B0 T1 f0 ]: H) C7 ^! s k+ `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ Q f# P6 K7 Y# |- h% Jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- D2 a1 a- H, T% H+ D5 gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 r/ l$ }+ y5 H3 ]# E& `is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! T; q. W. s! c1 D! M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 j9 g2 o3 u. @6 K u8 ~
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 M) u4 {/ i3 K/ T I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; W+ k; g; [: w: h1 o- m
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
M7 i! x, n% D9 {4 Csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
' ?, Y6 i1 V @ n, w( l: L5 Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 p4 O8 i$ w% n1 `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! N% X. ?8 A( v( I+ dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 R. H/ p" {3 B2 p9 c$ s5 @
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby, |. C/ e4 M; ]) ?+ \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! y- B& f- s% }5 j0 ~divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
# h! f, M) k+ O* I9 G" B9 B7 vDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 h4 w- i8 k' w! Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, }) u# R: B, ^( u( x- K7 l5 lcharge the fee defined by the state.* m4 t9 W' t/ V- G7 T
" l0 K0 {1 G G0 e# [- C: zThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 w9 |% Y7 W8 Bon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 y, [0 [+ Q4 e, v& a3 t% nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
0 C0 x9 Z& n3 {$ _1 ~7 J7 _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 |: M i; K. H W: y% x" B
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 p3 q9 H5 d- h* wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- u) A' W m5 f8 v# n& F. \/ e
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! m( V3 _1 v& \) N2 Q0 Ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* [2 \6 o; y3 w+ V. m. dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& n K7 P- k. ~8 {
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, {+ ?1 m. M8 O5 k9 S
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 i" J3 {& i- q0 @' z( C2 }to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 H. F! `5 r2 k* R% Qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ X5 Z- M3 M7 i! t' l! zare spaces.
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# _- C) z8 x- l! J, v$ @There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, L2 R( L# L; O& f4 ~5 m+ s% ~; hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% n8 e7 L6 t: L5 h% a4 l
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: P" b; w1 d: o: k% W
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" m" j8 K O1 ]1 G! Eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# e! g; r `" Q2 g2 f
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* Q( u2 l I n0 [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
- O. ~0 C) P# H6 @' acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ g$ C/ I0 g5 W7 l; F5 ?
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., b) e+ ?: j, S
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
