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
1 ?* h7 U* w$ ]- V* hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' Z! m4 O E9 \3 _% ]8 xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 ^. ^* _' s% h9 {9 [9 ?! U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, E" E5 Q& x" c+ d- X1 ^, U/ D) e
answers to our pointed questions.% c1 f: I6 N! Z/ F3 G- k& m
* x* d# _8 I! P4 i8 sThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," \7 Q5 R1 ?1 `$ N# s, Y$ N& w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 \& N6 \" V% T& m' n2 W
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 I& G; m4 f( j4 @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ f: _- @5 \0 C ^5 |; q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 J5 M( C x6 T: o
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ P4 i: M8 k- k6 X+ z, t
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; Q9 P. z0 t% N) O. R/ |2 N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 B8 ~% ]6 V8 Z/ S4 ~
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 ^$ Y% ~4 ~) R" u, e% ]
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 Y( E( {3 |! M+ ]. z4 @
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' T* p; \! {& p: u5 |; I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. y7 p- n& \+ h' R1 I/ `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' \* d3 ]: k- w; Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some- w+ [7 Y5 p- I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ T) @* g: [7 E7 J, O1 n, A9 ^0 y" e* m
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# G }# I+ T+ e4 R. c; ?6 e2 G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! J6 D4 v; D4 `4 T: Fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) k' R$ v4 ~* P" G- R+ K* \% Hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: p- @' G6 ^$ S/ b
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 h$ S$ K2 ~9 _3 J6 qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; S4 B6 o/ Z" W' O# {
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* ~; N5 P% m* A0 T4 k
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 Z( e2 E2 N3 s/ @# A# E# _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& F# m3 R4 c5 D* H2 |2 w% ccharge the fee defined by the state.4 c+ p: a1 z0 a; ^8 I
# r4 ]0 S4 m' ]1 tThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ W; l. {- k/ O2 v( X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# F1 |4 F3 A, Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 s1 L4 j, W) E9 Q7 l; [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" P: S2 X+ J, |
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" \) l6 T* ]2 x T: e
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 ]" ?1 i& l, y, P3 \3 b* k2 Z
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 O. |# @# s4 g+ e$ Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: b; O; I" K# E' ]
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) @% A# M' S& a g! x
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 y" c$ x7 t2 A. c) r
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ \* J" n0 P: s- l7 J" ]
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; {" X: o9 A) c% s8 N
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' V0 m% H5 e8 D. r, O2 e/ Z0 ], V
are spaces.( S. q9 r+ R z
: {0 M9 d' _2 l% dThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 j' u! b/ V3 w& N4 @- V3 p @
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. }+ w' w! O6 |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 G' {, N- P2 x4 |
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 G4 V5 @0 T$ W/ @ K M
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 r9 R1 u7 d8 a% P( A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 r* l: J; L: G$ V, ?6 s
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" V2 `8 ^8 J" y' u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it E) X {6 I! y! L$ }3 Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 f2 e8 T- H2 |& U We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
