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
2 e7 @/ }' F6 L5 y6 a) x% S, v( Vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% p6 {. J3 D; b A, @; F: fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) T! X$ W" P3 h4 [$ s" ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
B1 _ Y" h3 `1 O( zanswers to our pointed questions.6 V4 J# g0 k6 e( k
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# b. i' b- w0 ~- R% X" V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% T2 z) M5 z# I: s6 Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ w, N7 o! Y6 A- u1 r7 T& Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 U" N) g4 {5 @to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
j q2 i* M/ Omedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
# ?4 s# b% G* U1 E0 a7 hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 N8 L8 f, L. M" c& ~) }to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' @; L# M9 F' C) ?' j( o; wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 d5 E) _( O8 y& y2 P
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 V$ x# s8 J" H3 j
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 S) A& t5 C6 c
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& g+ B3 ~ T* M$ y2 W- N
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* k0 l. [) ~; e6 zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 {6 o: h( r( O9 @
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 m* [! L! G# W6 v2 W8 p' a
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 c$ c. l4 w# y/ ]9 }8 Y( Z: z5 `private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, C6 @# R7 C7 o8 [2 n
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 a2 y% q: A6 }4 y' s# ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 h9 b& B8 G( s- }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- q0 d3 G3 t: v& t' \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# @ L% y; s# }; o6 udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( s# l1 c: J! b$ `; `- U
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# F$ p$ {6 s) I; [6 }7 v
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# f" z2 b) h8 `' echarge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ S- I3 x. w: yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: A% X) K# W2 t' U% f: D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( h2 o+ j" C8 ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 W% r8 v2 a% H9 X- L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, P6 B+ v+ R0 l8 C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" p- }( Z* b$ W5 W5 A$ j0 }" h; T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) W+ p4 |3 b# ~) k) X! U! {0 I! Ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! I4 k5 ^, L7 O% @) n
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; E9 y. o. p9 H( k+ F2 n9 n8 f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% X' m$ d$ p5 q8 V7 C; F+ {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 a! H/ b0 N; c( k& K" w
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 n4 F$ A9 q: L9 v7 `
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 A' h* ~4 r6 G$ ]4 `1 x6 ~
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: b. \4 D. \# v4 O/ G8 h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 h. X W- b& U' V Oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 d+ D* X) Z: d% N# P/ Q0 f% r$ u5 f
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( g9 m& k+ i7 K( P
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; D, q' P- j4 o5 j1 A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- I {# D% `, i* b2 Rnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 m. e+ u& x) {! g$ V A. B8 N! L5 q# I. a
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: h8 H, N6 s+ j; }
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ t8 y" Y$ l: P- F( R We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
