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, ^* u" t* A h* J( g' }; m
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ M; l& e* F- b# o. B1 z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# @ \/ r/ _' \, P _3 ]"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
' u4 ^) \& d$ w* @. a1 Aanswers to our pointed questions.
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$ W, x7 c! b2 j" [" jThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, b: G) n& ?3 v2 r# ~45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* e" c# O7 w5 c9 E2 p5 k
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- e, T+ G/ G/ e0 h1 w
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" L. i/ Q- V( O- t" gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) G8 ]" Z6 X- |7 c2 l8 \" Nmedical schools.
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* e/ t% X L1 z! p) I0 A5 C5 p; VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, t% v: A# z5 ]
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 }2 i" f2 S# P p ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 x' a0 b ?% p z0 P# g6 O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
2 J! w) }! Z, a* y* Q+ Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 a+ h5 d! c! C: bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! R0 B% w" I/ r W& y% q9 j: d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
3 x8 P3 c' p, B4 z$ r' G; B- Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ Y/ l9 N0 w; S. p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ m4 J& {" X# }( m$ G8 @9 S! ~
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., G; |4 F5 z: y
0 f- L+ M5 u8 v: y6 E8 [) W dThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) B( c& F# d5 Z8 {0 ?- c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 V, @' Q, J! H7 F- }1 h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. T$ U+ t" }9 [& d* l( _% s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 `, b) {1 X6 d* M5 _; Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ b4 B% l1 x4 ]) z$ Jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 H! A9 r1 X- d* V$ j3 h! f0 U+ odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 T# f5 i7 Y- I5 @( u. R# E" X$ w
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 g: s1 d4 Z1 o4 Y) z' t7 N7 ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* G7 D4 a) m. Z% c
charge the fee defined by the state.$ j- L8 B. s' ]4 P& h2 @+ a$ ~/ U; M
2 {% A5 e% ]- P( zThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 V/ r1 \: `9 M, q% I* |9 gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, b& B* i: Q4 U* T' o8 ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) [/ F1 ]3 K% z" G8 `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% |. e" K; F/ U: Lseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: ?6 A2 T: h3 n1 K
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" u2 ^% o/ u( P- ?1 uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 S* |4 W- h; @. Q z9 _you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 m3 ?4 a- q, I0 [2 A; `" [, l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
3 I: \+ G3 a0 n- thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# w: Z5 g1 B6 @' P# b/ I1 n9 ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 p7 S2 R, m4 C) N: P1 f$ Zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% r8 Y" l) d! y: M3 |- A0 W
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( K9 t" e4 }) U) \6 M
are spaces." x) }6 |+ K d* H
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! m: Y/ l- r9 p! ]! [+ x+ }& p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- |1 z! r7 T: [! t8 M6 vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
O2 x9 U, h4 A0 i3 x2 o* u: k8 r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% S6 j* U# T, H, ~parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 i7 o2 y% L" J. x5 o, l- A$ W4 ?
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ i6 Y. L- F* c& h0 Z* Vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ S: c+ @7 W1 b# B
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( g: w3 p3 J0 `0 e* o& i, G/ ^# `
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 d. i9 t" l. }' H7 v
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
