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" f& h R6 R8 c3 C0 U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* m q+ W6 F+ F* j" {on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 S8 y9 r# I! z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 H! K2 k/ V8 U, D1 p) Xanswers to our pointed questions.( \6 W9 d I. h1 q% O
5 }3 G9 k9 u/ z2 c( c8 w* eThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# ^3 ^9 H/ q$ Y$ {, \45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 I* b4 p' ?$ [: i$ c6 L
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 \3 n$ p2 Y/ J$ }* ~. O9 d& r3 @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. V0 {7 F: y9 R* D$ ~" V( b; B/ g* C
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
- c& T( \; z0 t- Mmedical schools.* W Z$ y" {3 R, A* M: s6 [
" B3 k/ Q5 H0 R: o+ iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ ]4 q. M- `6 X2 |6 B6 f- J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 R+ s8 Z2 | vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" o9 J" W. a* y' [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 B; |5 D0 ?9 X' Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& ]* C+ c6 n& }% E
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There r' G& @: A/ j: m9 g
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 r+ t- T; ?. U6 _3 h* c/ fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( z4 f4 J B- h% _shortage which the government is addressing by converting some& w, ?6 G- X- U2 u% C- P
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 N# M# q* s) T* w' q
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' Q7 {5 o1 M6 ?8 k
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( S. W$ T# V3 t W6 ~1 O8 Tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& d6 Y& Y F/ `5 Y! g+ O, d
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 _& Y5 H D" w( \2 s: }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby, J6 M, Y5 n" R8 B: b7 B/ X5 U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# j5 P; h. r* X: v: h% [divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) G+ K, R/ e% O& m# \
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* y, d4 d4 r' K0 D. q+ F5 g
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( i1 O1 i3 m& Scharge the fee defined by the state.1 d5 [! P6 ~2 S' ~
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 \% C# V- ~$ d1 L; d% Y M% ~on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; X! r. Z2 f9 y P8 S v) l: I8 T
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; @ t, S4 M6 s( `: w6 z8 r$ t ^
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 ]( e; y" w: V K( r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: f& \. t7 A: t, jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 i8 {8 G2 q" T) H" U6 @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& I" K: F& ~6 v0 ` z# i* G- ^ r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 t1 J I6 H6 g @' Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
y; g7 b! E7 ~# e( Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, O! I5 `8 O R0 K5 x! R4 Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& Z$ \5 S1 |1 ~2 F3 a0 b1 N& h
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 q& ?! i T* y: b: _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, {* k$ j0 Y A& C3 |are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 F- Y' X' G: V" b2 u, {# A* t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ Z' u: u; o& E& kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ h* Q3 i: y/ h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 }0 m* U1 h. g$ \9 Bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" k3 m2 |+ B/ [0 g& q5 y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 }( ~9 i! }, p) ?* B! |5 y& r/ bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 [ U9 E' y2 C2 e) Z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 q0 n$ h/ |1 tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 }" C( t) a$ y7 Z7 @ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
