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' l* B0 D& m' w( V2 B( j
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# Z x# [6 _- c/ Y4 q' a
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- l4 w- P4 g' T& J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% i F/ w8 z W) Y( |7 Z3 S
answers to our pointed questions.+ M" f. }- ~. _4 [, N- P
9 n, m! W* y: fThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 P) E/ I3 r% r: i2 n7 D8 X) A45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 @3 I: ^' p) Y7 A l: F; D6 ]5 J! bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) q! |* d3 I" n) h* N& k }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 L8 z4 k$ S# w! G! {, a+ l
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ {) H* o$ _4 l( h- Mmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ W9 m$ `6 p+ D# L
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- u6 |; D4 a6 R+ N$ |. g! k# \to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 i9 L/ z8 E, C! ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 ?3 y0 e6 l: v- _5 F
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 ^1 Q) M7 t) m* @- L
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' m3 P D5 h/ C# ]: F( U/ b$ J! p- jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: b( \; R/ f1 \ x& ~ p2 Jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* S4 ?3 T0 G# Z+ k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 I* J; `' r! [* n8 L0 c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! l+ i; ]9 b1 d; G7 g5 M1 z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% X' M4 p j5 V9 bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 P$ ~! X; l" W; [* g. C, dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: H2 s6 w; q2 R0 K& q# \
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% i+ [' J- b- msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! @$ F# x h4 c! Kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' [1 m: |; q/ q: T0 ]! m( z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( [" c% y- [8 V1 a$ }$ ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ p; I* z* m) A* g! m" ]charge the fee defined by the state.9 k) p+ P4 \/ b* V
. U8 Q9 n! p$ h# Q3 S, XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 u1 ~8 J& |" k* ] }& Uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* L! {& c7 P6 ` r
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 f: K: C. Y' p. ]6 u8 Ktruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ q. a* c9 f/ t4 L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' ]) M/ T+ S |' g; Bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ w/ m; n) y& x8 x) j: q' m! g+ _4 M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( R+ w7 R7 I2 F1 Gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ ?& ^" x' ~: j2 k) [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 Y7 c- _) r2 g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 M# Z$ h* W1 W: }/ m e$ G* s( Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ y/ r4 z" q& R: Y; ]
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& H5 j; v" u3 t& M- Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 q. Q; @5 \1 fare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 _/ E, |8 O5 Q+ O$ E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ F+ ^( w; |; n: U, Y9 u
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! V# Z! @7 c; U! g
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 S7 I: F5 a4 D4 W
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 s/ a2 U5 X5 E8 gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( A+ _3 G5 Y( t" ^% `7 _nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! P: t5 O# Z) [2 L: B6 b! i1 t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) c) g4 x# s$ ?0 j( J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ ^* z1 k8 {8 m We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
