我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 j2 ?8 U4 I5 P. ~! Y7 q/ u
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, m6 d) O$ B! F% S% m: \on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ Y" \8 N, L1 ~8 R"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: v9 m, \; N$ e2 ]6 | s
answers to our pointed questions.. p, c0 S, N' w7 m1 O. E
" B! l, b% y0 }% B, |* VThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- X" F3 D1 Z5 @' H9 h. n
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- M5 [6 d$ t8 d1 u. p2 X4 t
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 g) ?; y. k* g, H
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams4 w5 P5 [7 M6 t9 h( L
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 D4 F$ b9 u+ g8 _* zmedical schools.! D7 X8 }4 R3 d* ]3 c
" {6 U% \" [+ f8 C6 s7 r. yEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 @8 W8 x ]$ u) p$ {4 p: Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants( H8 I2 |5 g5 l7 ?% d
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 @& x0 z9 O( k0 K, O6 |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ w: {9 k7 @4 `. [7 u, i% D2 s# I! Vis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
+ m/ ~7 g% W. ?! K7 X) Q9 zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 V2 P: u! p3 ], R3 q7 |2 }9 P( b, mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) t& ^9 R) ]9 U, T1 F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 a/ ]5 D/ l! O6 ]3 W
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
m$ {7 _1 b' f rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) V; ~. I- ~2 i2 r7 x6 Z( `8 k0 J* hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 Z3 Z+ [+ m6 A/ F" K, o$ Csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) a6 Z; Q K; i1 ^
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 ~9 f" z1 F& b% m( J) v* bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 v3 z" }9 m+ i* U8 isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 M3 j9 L6 h6 t! j. X
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# ^3 ]/ w/ P! ]; \4 H# I \
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When p0 U( I |- ?9 X# P; O3 j
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 f ^# L& K. T7 p' U2 X- z$ A
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 `7 v3 T& p! s
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 q& C! s; P! [) c' e% p; R. I- v) Jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ J, B- \8 L E2 y7 struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) [ N6 @- _* C. }seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' x2 N4 C+ N. Q$ v0 g" J/ z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 K! n2 U8 `5 nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' H5 N( u2 d9 t, Z8 G9 w
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, q0 h7 n% r1 V$ L7 n6 C9 M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) _ K' `* x+ ?: Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& N+ @/ I1 ]* o' _6 a. o# X# B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! X6 s- ]* i; v: a* j7 }; W& w8 _to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, x4 m4 w) D l9 X3 o
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there" h Q# c( ]0 _- b) l! F' Q
are spaces.0 W, N* I+ ]4 u- O n/ f8 x7 I; B! O
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' ]3 z5 n! a- Z& g% F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
T6 L. A: H, B& I& y0 Hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ Z8 \, N) X) m! h# n4 {! b) }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) ^+ @" g' j( O* U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( e }, Y5 r7 t& e* L4 n! |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ b8 ~4 ? h( P( ~
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) v3 s& }# d* n' Z8 `, J, @
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' b. J$ C% d+ S; E; Y( Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% y0 X! e: H! ^7 F% N& m We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
