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% A! K2 \* {) \, n6 D% @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& t0 [7 A9 P' Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 R$ n/ b( \" ], Y I8 H"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. ?& Z# ^: K! [5 p+ I0 t6 x3 Oanswers to our pointed questions.! U2 a) K* e; ^8 R2 I
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! C$ _7 T+ k9 j5 G- k45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; p+ Z$ Y% O0 {; P: O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) Q3 e5 T- w# S9 O9 V& P
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" E* k9 J" x* \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& A3 S, V! h7 U3 o
medical schools./ L* f9 m; }9 N/ O, J4 ?6 a) \
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 [- Y% L' h: e- O; H8 Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# s6 f2 F$ p$ P
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 l7 A( d) B! G, X' \3 K6 T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- K4 S3 |% Q: u
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 T& b% y5 t2 A4 k6 L4 R& Mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
) ~, m9 w) @; H$ Jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 A# r* G; l6 m L' Z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' T, `8 F$ t/ I; N5 ^0 f/ h' Kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% Y9 T M. _ r7 `: s7 a+ E3 fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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" Y7 ?1 k. J1 YThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 J5 C% b k6 bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 f+ P. W3 q1 ]) z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! J5 S" o7 B3 z: D! o# e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 Y# [, m" D- z4 Z. e( t5 O
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 t! ]/ d% `* T3 Ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 P/ f& e# m( ]. w- C5 X, f+ C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ u7 I* }# k: I3 H2 l2 kDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% A9 ?" ?( q2 v* y2 t+ a2 L h/ c
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" i& {) G- \& M1 ~, f
charge the fee defined by the state.% q5 x; Y4 s1 U& ?8 i' ], f, M3 b
0 n8 S* z9 p4 K' X2 EThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ A5 B8 I! Q! [/ b9 L" z$ S6 E( Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 p5 W4 t/ l r# L
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) R0 q2 B) G6 R* x: `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ P, n6 X# w3 [9 T, Z* w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 a# ]9 M+ ~6 u7 a4 ~! aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 @: _( W5 `& c
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
/ Y' l* f3 F9 |7 @you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% |/ z/ ~$ k1 _/ q, t, B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, ~, x" X9 h$ ^9 _, @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 |: d" ]! ^' w) d. _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 \0 ^1 ?( ~3 d- P! ?( `1 W g6 {" O7 ]
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 V9 q( `( L# p/ m0 gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! I. x1 W9 A* ~1 }8 qare spaces.- y& ^3 K! t3 |# b! G
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 e- y7 X! a9 e% F7 Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; b0 _/ h& r# |( Vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, P3 f2 O$ `, [6 H, F L, C- w40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& z! h* \9 ^9 j+ K' sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ ]/ F8 X1 y/ _) v, H Fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ J" V+ Q0 p6 p) V) wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( l2 G9 m/ @4 A
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 H1 A: P* E3 Q5 m" C, B/ Eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; o* o% c' ^9 h9 p# s F
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
