我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 e% d+ q6 ?/ d- ], D$ P
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; p, p" \; Z- d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 x- m8 q& {; Q- c
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 t b3 l1 t E; l6 Z3 v6 j: l2 v* \answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% T/ K h$ q- U' T- U) l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ F; P- I$ O1 `2 `9 _4 l8 m& q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ ?* D2 h6 ]' r) b& W- z: y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
N) }/ ?5 ~$ n3 v$ \to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 s/ G5 C; F! |$ u$ R8 Kmedical schools.) x( \1 P: u0 y' }
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' X [* M* }+ Y. egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 K7 K7 b2 W" o/ _/ ]* E+ J$ Z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 [; G2 ]0 d: w
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 I) `! a$ {7 ^8 ]6 |
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ M) E1 j# F( X0 f2 Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( S. r* m; X" |" {5 A* e
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; K8 Y0 R7 z+ ?, ?1 { ]mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 ^: H% Z6 v9 E) rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 G' Y) j" D: O. X! E/ g. C' b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) w) h, o; ]( |& }
, F, F7 r* _' H0 rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( }9 V+ i0 [" ^' X4 m% wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" H! ?0 h* r3 |1 o9 `
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 ]! k8 E2 R p: A9 Q* A" F R
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' b. G6 \" {; T- }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( P- Y; B3 G8 g# q2 j% dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. J) `, p. O2 I) a( C3 [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& ~; `( s" v% M5 mDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- A, v5 m& c, N6 \8 _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ U" a" w, K2 rcharge the fee defined by the state.' S2 ?7 U! S! G0 J. y+ h8 R
5 @# k5 G( F# H: u. PThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
) A: B0 ^, z3 Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 q% v3 c2 q; O/ L9 zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 c; D$ B. r# n4 d7 H! Y. B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 }& W4 R) r% p& q5 A% Z: q. \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 l: \+ Y. X( ~working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, e) A; B2 ]& r! J) K' Sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! y; ?7 l5 f7 ^4 ]you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% h# D( F6 h J7 e7 f# B! gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 b0 ]$ Z C) W% s4 R
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
# b" D* Y0 y8 v6 b' S% J' Ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; u7 B$ C! H1 O4 r/ ~0 Rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; y7 q, V! S. }0 Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% a) l( o0 x7 J, @# Z. z
are spaces. d0 q7 c7 F/ U" b K, H
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ N9 v9 B2 b3 W2 z5 {# a% e' \to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& K' _( s& W% V) H/ p
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 I- b |4 z$ [& Z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 i6 _, U* E9 ?. f- [- _1 J% ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% u1 }" e$ l6 a& ~6 D
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 N6 D$ P/ b( i+ u' \( _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ R0 l2 }2 q3 f5 s6 g; vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) c3 Z' p2 C( m: q! J' z8 c
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' A3 M; t1 s2 x: u; W We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
