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' `8 G# Q; d& |
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( P% ]$ \9 c) c: `on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& r3 ^3 p9 c& B3 C) E8 S# A* y- C
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 p2 h9 a) L$ M4 ~/ K, b. i' Qanswers to our pointed questions.% A$ h4 b. v8 k5 Z' z" Q
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," ^' E+ o) x4 O& o3 R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 S& M$ o8 v7 |/ [( b2 Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& p- g. a: `/ Q: O9 M
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" S# Q2 _- J* m' s; j9 B$ G: W' J8 o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* G1 @) f; W8 S* `9 t2 F7 j
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, B0 s0 E5 b+ a1 ]0 b! N! Zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 B/ N, B" B7 N% \9 pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' @1 b. l# ^+ D, p
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
1 u! k" _4 Q m$ C9 ^is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 f5 b% a8 `, F5 }over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ q& H( {; s% A8 L3 ^! r2 U* vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 O% u: f9 i. [8 ]3 bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
# I) R, g a- S, x y0 @: }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some& r1 H1 L- n: T$ R1 ~6 L7 T
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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* l/ i4 a" \% n2 \% e& M. i6 [( yThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ b/ F5 Y$ p1 |- u3 `1 z% t, x4 yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: f7 a. S3 o$ W# k g9 R$ fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ G2 k" M5 U$ ]1 S; x: Z" C; V. ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# Q. w; X. \5 \+ C" _thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% m/ g: t+ s0 L+ ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, c6 D2 T; Q& V' a7 w% I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 B2 |0 V: j. Y) W; i+ Q' M0 e
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: z1 V1 b: n T' ^3 f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# c- y! w% |9 |6 @) [
charge the fee defined by the state.
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+ `) ~6 ?( Q: T) n5 GThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 U0 {3 f2 ^; f
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* p5 b. \' m- r1 uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 B" ], t+ w- p: f+ `1 B( mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# G2 U4 P0 V: a/ ^4 t f1 x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ?+ V2 A& S2 d% c1 l- S
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# O" `& _$ B" u& P# Y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; T& b- J" j, U/ I) H2 r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 T7 ~; b1 p2 g2 I$ `4 ktrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% f# }. A& P# Y: v
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! `# Z& K$ u/ q# \; gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* x% `/ X: Z" I. \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! Q: J" U, C' }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there" b1 N0 ~" O* t |5 y! s, ]
are spaces.
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( T! @$ H. X J4 f( g) p- eThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" m& C( M* z9 n" ^$ Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 j9 K+ L: E$ I' l, k
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' Q; C. ]. v8 I* J `7 b
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ o0 ?9 @& A0 }6 |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' B% J, K/ j3 v6 a7 @) O: g: O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# h; ]5 y V: B( R: U/ c% L
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# f f3 H* V) S5 M7 ]* z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- _ H& W9 m3 s3 fis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, b% ~7 m3 C) v$ ?, z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
