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
) U- M' C9 h; G2 d q& Cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, ?: U& d: K1 k3 X. D) q2 M, Ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, t7 U5 [8 m" c' }. s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. b* I5 y" f# Y* l5 m
answers to our pointed questions.3 a: t2 ^% p+ m5 N/ _( L
# j5 C. g4 t) v0 s6 Z' y5 y, OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: v4 f' L8 W) q: i; U
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ x" n' W+ D' v7 X# B0 F* O. p# F& Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 X! V. F- k4 {+ l% s1 j( [* H. wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 {7 t1 } y% ~ T" u# n% ?8 r" ]* ]to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: W* N/ `: P. a7 r9 B$ O' @( c
medical schools./ u. n" H; v2 q3 T) i5 X5 y( a
8 Y1 l4 \" |9 @% ~% A0 BEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 D' \6 P( _4 q- B/ B( q/ C
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 x M; c: K$ E+ n/ ?9 ?, ~6 ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& L }! r5 t1 \) ]# X ~' w3 Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 B. _/ |) ?* @ n, b% Y* `
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
m' y- k% b" N4 u! E. T j& Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 }' }# J4 R1 T, n" _/ x
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' e( l6 E& V# {& s2 t( K) C. wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk s0 p8 _' b w+ V# D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 W' k# x& t/ m- Osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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$ @1 l2 q. [: {# s+ p2 pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 _! x0 x* I3 q E/ |) J
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ c. a7 q' I( w8 ~supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; \* K! @. K) y; m9 W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) p# a, c' S$ L% Q8 N$ G
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# x/ h/ ~/ c; f9 L5 W% c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: B F3 y' Z, a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 l0 G' v2 f3 G( M9 [! J
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: o* t1 Z/ K, m* Q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ P& {4 r4 V8 ~# C* ^
charge the fee defined by the state.6 j1 c5 q8 w/ l# ~" m+ n2 }
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: _9 B, e* \; z/ _3 Q( Yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
9 Q# x" h' u8 f1 Dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- ^- F& z0 j) ?8 K# z3 d& W. q4 _
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
; s# \- R. j6 ~& |% Dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 j# K5 E8 c% |! h( j' a/ T9 u
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: R+ H6 Q9 h# |3 H/ K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 N1 s9 B& J1 J8 r. a- |
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 J) s5 C$ _ m& W0 j- Htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% v* D% n( [2 z% `( @" e% O% phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 n( W! R/ P( f9 i. T: O" W4 Speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 O; b- t9 N- `to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or u9 R R" y' L
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
_4 S- P5 R& P* V, q1 ] gare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 r( R1 N* z# u4 A4 b* Lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 p' @, R$ o8 J# M6 c$ l( ^
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* X6 N8 _# o. T2 J$ f. {40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! N: b$ M4 v' L1 m$ O4 u( Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 W S. A4 d w/ |$ I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 P# k: Q5 f2 F
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 F) W- p) }0 Q, }. d- ?
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ U9 f! M8 g* T5 ?$ u6 x% G! Eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 U) p) } b7 ~* f' F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
