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) c. E8 |1 x7 ]; _3 ~1 y/ q& u' H
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 K, M1 p4 P' b; S' h- W6 Von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 a; i' [8 ^0 j3 @# Z+ _# ^+ A/ H
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( }. p- o Z H# @" L8 {
answers to our pointed questions., s( a5 K# P( R" u6 z
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; s* c3 n# m6 ]: B* e45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! a. t3 A6 x: V. mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- e. _4 t# i0 a) v9 a" Z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ U7 v0 U, p, `' L8 R0 D
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ |. u5 @+ s; U( l: ^
medical schools. p$ \1 w" x" u5 y
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' I b' t' B( x+ p
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) W6 L9 z! u- Y' r- h( ^
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- N. m& _# @ Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 E" |+ P' j" L- }& j+ ]8 O6 uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 }, @- N( M/ @, q+ M1 x7 Zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ v; ~, f0 J+ a/ U5 T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 z$ u" h& Q# L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" q) p9 K! _. r" S, ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some& P7 D5 P, v% q1 t& m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 D( G+ Z d; {0 d
8 C+ e9 w1 Y1 KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 v# b+ |7 H2 l# ~& O, F' f1 |private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 }3 L3 }+ C) Q) \
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ I1 l8 O( P9 V) h' B, v
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 `" a$ o6 g# |thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* T# X: Z; H' r9 g
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 D3 X' x& D( {. k% d9 pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, E5 G8 Q5 [) i4 m) X5 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* ?9 w( b9 s+ _6 z+ aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 i! m( r, I* c9 `+ q- D
charge the fee defined by the state.
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" }; q: x7 @+ ~+ |! C: ^$ i9 TThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 w. L2 X8 U; z4 I6 B% Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 P. ^' B; b0 |, ~. T c2 M6 Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 z4 P4 T+ I8 _4 e8 n) a/ I
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 f8 R' b1 W @3 Sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: c6 h$ D& V' f' }' Iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 x: K+ W5 D) ^9 J! r" V0 p+ P: uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 v' I; `# t0 x Z& y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 J8 I8 M6 F. L. \1 b! }; s( h8 F6 r
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
X1 S: X7 G6 D7 d" n$ l3 u! l' E! j$ |hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, Z9 U5 u# i% _6 V' a# Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' k- k7 l' ^; I. U
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; a+ |2 R+ z# P0 zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. W! B. F1 Q: r
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# c" ]! A# }3 L# U3 k* M
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. u; m: ~# s& S/ Rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ i9 l7 Z7 g& P+ P: m. D! ^ \3 n
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& `* r" R& P, `+ q' I! S! I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 y5 z' T1 }2 L$ `; A. d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 M2 m8 p1 b9 G
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: U c6 ~$ u2 I5 m8 \; Y. Acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it8 d3 S% o7 J6 @# X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; H+ O+ x* Z- D4 l% b; C) r# V; n* Q# L. Z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
