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+ z6 h6 t6 L! w1 n. d0 Y* M; l5 s% ^
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" Z: n; F9 h0 V+ J, v" g. c! gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 O( T) ]0 n: a* |- y5 o# |! P" J; ["George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 T$ x4 P& G F
answers to our pointed questions.$ ]2 p& d) m! i+ O3 \6 ~
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; f4 _0 s4 V6 v: w% K& d
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# |4 L/ e/ z! s
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 n: y2 T6 U8 O2 u% m
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 h4 b `/ N! c# K v6 f4 @to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 y, N+ I! T3 |; f6 R
medical schools.
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4 J0 X6 [0 U1 d% @! WEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the O# P/ o; ^: G6 u" W. ~1 F
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 Y5 Z6 Q$ P- r- b5 @to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 S }% U4 s2 G5 V L
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) T3 N- ?7 g1 d$ \is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 }% c2 f1 T6 f0 o/ A0 b
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& u, c; h( S7 l3 t7 p8 c$ K. Q! iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 i0 X, K9 s9 q$ D% }1 |+ U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 d0 x: l' ], t" ^" M2 ]
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 X7 W% @( N8 x, G. ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% I: ?( F' Y; D ~ m4 O0 z: q
: h: v) T1 u7 {9 y* h, \ v: XThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- k5 K8 N; |0 b, V' @* w* o* gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 I+ t3 K" e( L! F& T; g6 Bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' }9 d" D, ~- }0 @have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 p6 V; @! O" F" ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
* N+ F+ D- @" u- x- o* B* [sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 W( P% i' @2 |" }6 R
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# Z- W, ]# {7 a! |4 R: O8 G
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ K% \$ S/ _) f+ r+ b u$ I
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. T! B) `5 g/ e! C1 c
charge the fee defined by the state.0 x+ L/ V' Y0 |. h, S" ]
+ ~. D/ F( h8 Q$ ]5 r8 c7 DThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* t8 M, @7 L. i; N5 S' }# zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 L( d2 A0 A3 {4 T* ~& r
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big C) H: a6 Q0 V
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# F* f6 E Q4 P O* k$ mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; M7 P) e0 d) c, Eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 ]8 g- z* }; d, lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- Y3 }4 m1 f3 t0 R/ g) A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 o0 x9 v6 [, K+ m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; {' `# ^# G& q: ?9 D1 J L. n7 m, b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ n; X' v5 k6 cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- `' O! P6 j+ u1 G5 u! S& {to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" |6 Z+ l1 D1 p# H' z7 x* H2 Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% t" ?( p. _) `' c1 k) V; r c
are spaces.. Y* W% i1 h1 G+ Z5 y6 Q2 i5 L
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 f- o$ {8 R% }& l; v/ `7 P* V
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( N/ X, ~/ r- Q0 w1 Pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% c& J$ a, s; _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
) O7 R, k; Z1 [/ J* _: yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ e# U+ ~0 c/ {4 i4 p8 [/ ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; H* j& x8 m" u; f! Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 n" g$ b8 u( x4 t$ Y/ n4 V5 W5 M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 S7 B: P/ l5 h& b5 v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.$ H. N9 J% [4 j, l
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
