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. A6 k0 z# l) u! F% g+ i3 V" c
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 k2 i9 x9 Z( B. t5 X& Pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( F1 f& R* v& r' @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 [% G1 L) d) d( N( ^" [) Y
answers to our pointed questions.+ D. @. U, `" ]+ t. ?
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 R0 ^# ]1 y7 f- f7 S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand K( ?8 J: l# l; O2 y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! c$ Z R6 m$ t3 i# w9 `! B: c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 O; X. t! q2 P& n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ y# ?0 a* q: T) Rmedical schools., [" @9 @; | T/ r) u* O- |6 y7 f
, t9 [2 I& A1 A) }Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; V2 W p2 r1 \; z! G, I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants( a* T& ]$ ?' d; b/ [) e6 e+ @
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 @: `1 `# M8 v4 V7 o7 M3 R* @# Y
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ p7 J8 J* O: U! }9 U' ]) H% O
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: R6 l6 X& B) W! s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 L+ _. H8 n" s. @4 t4 Cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' A, f( H2 V/ g. U0 Q( B8 rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; G8 o4 c' @2 N; i2 Y3 Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! |9 V2 L8 \/ ~3 o3 H" L2 A! _sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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; k5 m7 d# R/ }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ N+ W2 M) s( N1 f
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! Q( Z& u7 ?4 `/ M2 D' p6 ]* fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 N1 I) ^: {; v% Y( K. U( d
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# d- p+ U+ V' C# }
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ h+ S, K* t# }/ H: [1 @* U6 j) `8 Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 o% K2 R$ I$ M4 T% }0 Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- m6 I6 R# K) E$ A' VDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ u/ }* p" M& z( _9 H# va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" I6 [ ?' J. s
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. P2 s7 q+ {: S- {' q- b
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 K+ p1 f/ u: l- u: Bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 G2 s& c7 l4 ^" e6 d) ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 J9 P2 |1 p. `* E' t) I5 L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: k9 j) `6 b0 x7 h2 Z, X0 J; @1 e# E3 kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 V K# x5 H+ R/ X; q* e1 D
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 a1 C. A* e% S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ g0 D2 V8 l! T: l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) N/ l9 w" p7 \. shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% D/ N) G$ S) [; K) q& Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 G$ `2 R X3 |% l
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, h+ p5 z! L X3 h% H
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 [5 {: R5 ~. a* Y/ Ware spaces.
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! z8 ]+ g' H) w' E: m. B+ u( sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 m) z: _8 _) J+ z4 r7 t; Q4 |to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* h# F" T1 | M* J" G
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 H8 V6 H' s/ u& q6 j7 _" T* B& w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 i3 V3 V. n0 mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 w; b- B0 f F8 T& I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 L: r9 N! X& V- D. l8 W& S2 x% }2 znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; Z1 n0 z3 J7 E/ s9 ]& U
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it _4 l a8 f% s$ d8 j. B* l. v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' B) c9 Y7 L/ U0 n( l4 S We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
