我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 J/ Z$ l+ A4 R# v
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' V+ A, G6 V( b9 R7 Non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, T% G4 b% l2 T
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* l7 _ |: Y( V5 P. \
answers to our pointed questions.$ K5 o* s- t/ W7 |; f3 ` c
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ u- g' _9 e& w& T45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) i0 z; K' g# m, S& I+ a* N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; X4 a$ p9 A' v9 u- Dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. \. i/ ^1 e6 M* L/ Vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: b" w6 h" N7 @% v, f+ e' v
medical schools.$ g( T3 N1 M; P& `) {# w
: z x+ Y* J3 b7 w% N! ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
y" v( {' A, S3 }+ D! V' S( A6 i- i- Xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, v& n- A; _* H# D. Y( Mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 l* v1 W1 a/ n. `
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 @" x- r+ X/ W7 t
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ y0 W& v/ p' Y, ^ z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! w9 X/ k+ \' J f& l& z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ e3 a2 D4 Z; N7 m- o$ _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
q2 A# C% S% ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 I) K$ ~6 F' qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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' _9 E; o3 {4 x7 _+ q' H9 DThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 `6 N1 Z8 g% w2 g6 S0 Pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- n' r. e" i4 {' P. C" C; b( Bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 p4 E' E: T+ F. c# z1 n; E
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 u, [/ t; A+ \4 g) @6 {
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' P5 f+ o& u0 i: N, p7 o8 {! S: vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 M, @$ I8 H3 C/ N' @0 h1 tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 u; F: }5 V% z% q2 \0 ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 ?4 ]' `1 g Q3 n6 q' K! _/ _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 Z. Q. s7 F/ q- P2 Xcharge the fee defined by the state.' l% P) C& |9 l
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ L/ P) A. g5 z+ [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: r+ o9 @$ w W; [0 U% ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ a' N. b9 Z! T: D5 k
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! ]- z9 y4 X+ N5 }8 p
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ K: ?1 j b' a6 g# k; L1 R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
) w8 w% N3 O5 U0 E( m y' Eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: T9 t- ?/ |# J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; M5 U' H8 T* T ]2 t; l% Q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 A& T* E4 o. M; A$ m
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* n, _. b) K( R2 X2 x4 Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: G1 j* Z$ F- O! f
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; f" V1 [ n& S9 u2 @5 ?2 q6 Bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 N% C. v" M( S+ ] H' h; ?are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! z7 F4 E, \1 _4 H0 l; Yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 F' e( f( d* {: d9 e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! G, l% o2 @) V {3 G
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
n# m! b9 N9 M3 ]5 Xparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& G9 ]! }# `9 r8 T2 A* ]9 zbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- z9 `7 z% z8 w1 x) o3 Q3 v! L9 Znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; A' v" ?' |2 o1 h( g3 b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ N7 T$ v j4 J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. N5 M4 Q: Y2 m1 Y4 e h7 a
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
