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: d- ~: M4 K3 a' y8 g
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ K, g4 l) E% g$ e9 x8 z1 uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 s- G+ X: s" } h
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% b% ?% L0 J4 C6 o/ S: `# x
answers to our pointed questions.
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0 n% X/ h9 z0 O( }. m9 N2 z. ~6 ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 u V, q$ r e: F
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 g. Q6 F G# V2 |5 i/ w f4 g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 e% F4 ~9 X5 c! v9 I" pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ F4 ?0 P; T/ W1 [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
+ S E$ O2 n Y# W% L5 [medical schools.& n; P# b. C& [; L6 R, R
( _5 b. @- k% p+ i* A& T! hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 S. u/ z! Z5 B) w \* |! [0 k
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ l: F3 L$ T% W4 K; Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 {! G! a+ v, e+ P, x% i$ D2 G
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& \: j, }# L) i0 U n" t" ^
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; |% b/ l4 i$ cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& S. h' H/ g# u/ Rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# z: E B3 R" q2 w1 h1 V+ U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk K- O7 `4 ^4 l5 Q/ ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) o6 G) ?2 R" \+ E* G" p/ O- P) l
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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- K& q# _% Y1 {& T& ~The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! Z+ J6 v3 q$ L$ o5 l& I6 ]1 {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ c4 l5 S5 ~- ?6 Esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 ]4 u5 w0 k4 C6 t2 e: W, |( m2 Ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ S% B& I5 w; i; |- s& \2 Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* w- \) o" K% }3 x5 i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
: J" M* E7 a1 L; fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ r6 D, L9 {! c# s6 y" X( y7 y6 }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( ]- i6 A( K7 {9 W% `# ~' z2 Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! d5 v b8 d# ^: `% M
charge the fee defined by the state.4 H6 l+ u* T3 K; i" E, @2 {5 x7 j% [ E
. @$ E, \+ d2 T; c6 R% j, nThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ P1 V( f& @# n1 w' l7 ?$ ^) pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 m/ I; R% S4 G" P! A3 T6 f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 C I7 @" u5 q! b
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
/ M0 U9 X* d$ z& ^$ gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! ~7 h5 }7 m/ F1 hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 Q; h- \ f |; _+ G, c) m0 fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: q4 ]4 J# S' r1 g
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) R1 p5 I4 r$ a' M0 j" S2 W2 k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' a+ G- @- \4 G: Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% O4 |! N+ \! h% w: R2 R6 e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' v0 y9 s5 f3 ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% m4 L5 A- h' x# F7 z4 W, Y
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' P. K8 B( O4 C4 R% C5 n4 o
are spaces.1 J: {4 k9 A! r) Q& |: j; ~" p
' f+ k& N8 o$ S' y2 t8 L, }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 A3 M% Q: i/ G# Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
/ T7 c- y6 r, F# R" x4 vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 P+ m& _* i4 w* n6 L+ m40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 t5 m. u" l2 D- o7 Tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 w. y8 v4 W! U. lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ b( |" R# Q3 F1 X8 a- R3 c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 V- t/ w, c0 n
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! C9 L' z6 R/ {" n6 g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( j0 q# p/ C2 Y7 d2 z- Q9 x
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
