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
+ V- t7 v3 z3 E- Z. h* J/ Bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, f0 S6 v& j3 ?; {3 V0 ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% h6 c0 r6 A2 `$ R q% A1 a"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ g2 ~. e1 C9 b
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," S3 d) I) q* w: ~( ]7 V1 q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 F2 Z; p% _/ f( y9 P0 Z3 m' a
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ K* D1 C; l2 n" g) V! P; K }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" C( ] ~- @) x$ i% n' L- p- ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
^ K. Z; x: M2 q( ~& O gmedical schools.0 i* d* R' P% Q0 f
& a; X' N. S* I" i* S
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% y' z4 W; v0 A7 X7 cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 g; E% I' \" I! k
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# ?: Z7 M: {; l$ ~* k7 R; s
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 f* L$ J0 S4 Zis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( u1 E# Z& r! B- ?9 `6 rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, M% ]2 M y2 f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ b- H6 H% U- ] e( h0 y4 ~$ b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ y: `! j7 b) S# Kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 _5 w# C: U$ X0 L* t+ Y, msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 N9 D% t$ G) I3 _; }9 z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 f+ f: C6 y( |) o9 l: }. I. I7 d
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ z0 i( g- n( N2 c5 `6 u
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! q- t6 @ t. q# t: y7 r6 D4 W6 H, U
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% @+ f: Z/ l4 I9 Vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! l& C: }7 Y T6 K& _# Kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% R) k9 u: J$ _
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) L4 ]. w8 N$ r* h$ f' C' _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 B+ @/ R M D+ Q$ Q
charge the fee defined by the state.+ ]! q1 }% w3 J9 C
( a1 x% a5 ` P7 l' L1 T7 g, uThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
! n& J# N5 f4 Y# ^% T; n5 Ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, Z0 y* g' J2 Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- [1 p0 \% j% z7 ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' P' U5 R7 ]+ m0 U. R) K4 Yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- J. M/ F5 `) X2 [& @0 Mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* i/ I! x$ v& s0 t* ]3 ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
}# W% _ H5 Dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 M7 g P5 G; s3 strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 q C/ f7 K; F
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 a$ F8 U4 K2 _
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. N$ M3 B9 Y j8 B9 ]6 Q8 G
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 q+ P9 [: N Z% X; v$ g) v- [- Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ x4 E/ J) E+ }0 ^8 u. W
are spaces.. \; {" j1 b$ X4 m
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 {: C7 c, z5 L2 y' J' ]to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 }) W+ t0 y0 a9 U8 F% M0 Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( k7 [7 R2 @4 h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! o8 C7 B6 y, K4 ^6 u4 d9 Z2 l
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 O/ H5 }6 O$ E) C( y5 t
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few Q [6 h8 p: ?4 g3 r( v
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 G, r. A' j. x. [6 m( c @" t3 ]5 Mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ Z" @ M2 u4 M9 V6 [is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# b6 w" A8 p3 B/ s" R, o We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
