我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 g# S# V* {0 N3 s6 b9 N' b0 B' U: y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 ?* Z7 I# F/ |4 S; ]on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: S' r4 L) H. h3 @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" p4 U+ h! `: Panswers to our pointed questions.
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8 G j# h: d& d' I5 }+ oThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% B5 j# ?1 |* P( V; C! N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ `" Z9 W) G5 R2 F! E/ [: u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ f( C$ u9 J3 v5 _8 r& q$ g6 r( kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" k: A; G& w# c5 `to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" ]" z8 s/ t+ X5 H hmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; ]. e8 ^; p) ?3 y0 e- _+ _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' c$ W# N7 ]( j1 c
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* Y! {% s" |2 @* o+ H8 L& eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 k2 f' Y! G& H- ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- F6 K* [' m0 V+ [' _9 uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 r% ^/ m0 [: V/ }( D1 Z; @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 O# l1 X' A U& U8 p. B1 m: I1 M( Z3 n$ K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; G: G8 X/ O( A- k# dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some- t( J% V P$ r4 @7 E% p, c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- U- [! Q9 {+ d- L
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) O2 ^3 X- p) L8 ] b
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* q8 w8 t+ J6 \
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 N" u' Q/ U! i5 @" L/ F; T% l6 q; k
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# C( [- n- s& M" v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 Z. t1 J$ L" p$ Z0 Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; O5 g) d: ^) ?8 L) u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) t/ o9 M0 }, g* ~8 x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! z H2 \1 s7 O" ^) B" Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 k; H: c) _4 _" l& ]2 g- H
charge the fee defined by the state./ F* F' w! [. n# f$ j) \ A: e
, z- A0 g( ~4 ]5 t0 rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. d d% W, M. f4 Q( Z7 V. `6 i% R" Lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 s( Y5 g, W' K4 {. C- m, x+ z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& {$ A4 u y, n1 ^& s
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
3 x# t8 L/ p" s" k8 ]+ E& Z' H! y$ _8 mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. e: E) F l0 j" b2 i/ sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 e. u H; q# o7 C) P. O, mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' {. J9 f9 T# I h# j, Gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) c( I9 |( f; w# u0 @0 M, K8 L
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. q- F4 g) t- ]' G$ I
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* `, [5 o) e6 f, ^. V' k$ R/ Ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* o5 x' y/ l' ^* ]to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, ^& s9 Q1 }# L! {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 W3 r; d& ~( M- G& |
are spaces.) X8 g5 Y$ w5 h% w
! g1 S# S" o6 wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* E% {+ e z" f% Z9 Q# @( Rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ }6 @6 W9 w6 M# e7 v. w8 w6 F+ J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* O/ c/ t6 y1 x, P- a' t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 I8 B# t1 Z, \5 C) f. s! s% f/ O
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ R5 f' V0 F4 N) \1 R% q" j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 O; B3 Z) p7 s0 i) C, w6 n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: N6 u6 W8 F7 u% ?
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. U# A$ O1 i: x- x7 ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 u+ Y; g8 m! E$ I% o5 u
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
