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; j! }0 ]. j4 y3 f, K. ?* {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ B6 t' e3 H7 S' don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ \7 g" D5 j; r/ ?) G"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; e4 X8 |+ P$ panswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ w# N4 }6 A6 e; V3 b. u# }% v
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ m0 K3 `: S6 E' S8 p0 U
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: a6 C4 R; H) z7 x1 z1 n6 g" D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; u! l( l% h' O. S/ G( {' P' Vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; y* O) ]9 E( c' o% \medical schools.
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. E/ m* x8 N& zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! D1 @: D' M. {3 k: D- Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# H9 C' T1 k a7 Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 t. t3 v6 _8 z; e4 z' C- U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; ]+ u' }* J2 z2 A4 ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. u7 h+ q0 _4 }, }/ t+ k3 ?, jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: X* Y: u6 X5 O9 Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" O$ l+ Y) I8 N* w# Q1 Q7 g% |9 d
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" F/ o! o. t* {' T8 x/ Gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' I6 ^4 E7 w. E! a1 ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 ]* E- g* x F g( L% ?. B$ c! @
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) b: I: K7 v% v) W' z; m
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& L, W( q6 Q( X# }
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& d6 A! E7 p+ i9 h' whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 m" S9 n. y- P, v6 Y7 gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ X) B2 ]3 N1 f0 k" R/ E) P, a1 R
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ D9 T; w3 N8 P0 W: H: o1 Kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ q9 _. r2 j: N2 ?- e# i) IDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" L7 w" r! R2 Z+ O0 v# }% M; f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 Q! L4 I: [4 f4 ~4 |3 E
charge the fee defined by the state.
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; u$ A( L: Y9 Y" t0 lThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' L1 j/ o5 Z( Q: u& b+ G: R
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type z. C, H$ W8 I/ Y# o% x; B1 n& y# S
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; U5 A- z w# `1 O7 C7 v" S) P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ D6 t2 G' {9 ~' S6 f3 o
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ x; y2 n a5 K @2 q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, E* T( M8 o( [
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& X/ c4 H0 l6 a% K" N/ [7 y3 @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- W0 |$ l" b; F3 r( o3 k/ ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
4 V4 K, I; |6 `- D$ N }hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" ~9 p. q6 S( F+ ^5 a tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% O4 V7 a* B( k% e. j: [& j" j
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ Y- I& _2 L' @6 a; {1 t) wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ F. M" }& B9 d `are spaces.% u- v6 c9 y( S" O$ @1 U
" C) |* q/ P; M$ mThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" W+ T3 U3 h2 t* w4 u/ ?8 Qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. T9 i. N' ^8 X2 j, L/ _% j/ @
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
) ?; {/ x) n3 L$ y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 C5 H$ q; c: c: T6 E" E( ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
_8 s& \' h, j9 v' K" a/ e0 }best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 S% V' s! i$ [8 Bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* |% g" i+ ?4 F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' T. A! f9 a" T: K4 q2 z0 K ^" m% M
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" u H/ v: W$ v6 N' A7 f/ w8 T We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
