我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 S* }9 e* ]6 D. J- i
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% q! H. Y3 {* M5 a- N
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
* ]: i5 u% ^2 u9 D$ {+ [1 T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 u0 g8 w. F; \8 ~, @
answers to our pointed questions." M. c- E3 i: ^- V4 W
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* e" i! m6 O1 f
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand Z9 S0 o% a$ t1 j5 [' b
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
7 `8 z# c. H& G. z# E& V2 V9 C( Lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% I# R& u! a( J- J: Dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; E$ P; C( r+ {medical schools.: a8 l2 [/ ]+ t
% i& W. m/ y1 `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: `# Q% A6 I/ E Z6 p' [government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ h9 {- y8 A8 Z/ A" Zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: H% s0 {& E; B# F7 t" i$ v* n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; i0 Y1 G, u# d$ A% X8 g
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 i) r |0 M1 p# n: R+ r
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! r* @' c) W- { ?4 y7 bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 o$ O0 d; a9 b# _* b) V$ u& k; w" ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 K8 e( `* G, |* E5 v6 n9 k
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ I1 C: Q- Y# G, @' |' E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, a- n- H) M% {: j8 O! |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 D; |0 t' t* j) f
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 }: o1 |; \2 Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 T: \- {2 v: G4 `; F5 Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, U6 w( E' P$ V0 F4 | F" ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 H3 a$ u$ \ c3 R6 T4 j
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." V) o& F) v( L
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 R- R5 b) z" g6 c: d% E8 \, Ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, O, [7 P% N, d" |2 K. ]+ Vcharge the fee defined by the state.6 J: }; x! V8 W2 m* |
: |7 g0 z8 K" d% wThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, s) y, `5 b- @0 h% ]5 M0 k6 won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 d; H1 [5 S7 w7 Vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* X# t% j( x5 _8 E0 qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 P/ v& _: Z% K1 W/ K" a8 @6 H' Useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ z% v4 z$ D8 T% a- uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ \% Z* i. e1 y! G' w
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ P f- [& z- f7 I3 ^6 G
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; x' g7 b4 n9 Y/ R( utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, o$ [4 N5 x, D6 A4 }! H3 A( v
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 f3 f9 m) U( R6 u: d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" r# E9 ]: D( H5 l+ n
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' K$ S4 J3 n9 O6 H$ A- fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( W: ^. ?' q' Xare spaces.) I# | O( Q- f" Q7 Z/ y2 w9 k
+ }) g6 U6 I& e0 c; ZThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! N, J" n0 g7 Q8 |7 V: l$ vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( I( \" a% C! S( d+ r* F, X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 v8 H: W* G% K& c( |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. j8 ^5 f' C+ Q" G3 h' t1 M0 Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% W3 A8 e; \% e) W" g: I8 Tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
, X' a8 C: }" e. Y6 Znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 O) H1 K6 I1 U: Y' D w0 j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, A, s& v1 Z; P2 ]+ ]5 \2 xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
r. f) h: f4 l We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
