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. D) A8 r; r8 J4 `1 C- y; `/ o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 o, V8 m; `$ W" k) p# I1 ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ w: I# b/ B2 p# B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ p# T2 ?2 A% G* \. m. Z, N3 J0 f: C; g
answers to our pointed questions.
5 H9 | p9 ?" j& H$ u
0 O, b, f/ p+ V( n$ _The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: ]3 z: A. _1 z2 m) p
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 s& ` S% ^, p! F. g4 N- M4 h& Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! u/ z7 y1 `6 ^# s+ R- zfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 M& _) z s c, H8 z5 R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; f n% L6 j# ]2 j; t" _0 t6 F( xmedical schools.
$ }7 m9 f4 o# r% ~ Y! r" l N# c% e3 ^/ ]& m7 Y3 w7 [( ~7 i
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% O" R2 U, P6 Z/ d+ H2 v) i' `* |
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 a- ~8 i* m* e" j
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ V5 T. ^& ^& z9 J/ e: nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 P, `/ v3 [! v9 o5 t) @is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# C- S( X2 o3 j4 N* D* ?4 w
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, c* y5 j1 F1 p7 vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 k5 u' B+ O7 m# F/ Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 ?8 i* b( B. ^* M: E3 E- y: Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some k3 X5 |8 m1 j
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
2 @0 S5 U$ V7 x/ w: X# o- o! |3 Y9 n8 {& L7 d/ t j+ N6 A2 w
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 Z) J+ J( ~- V1 J" ^9 A3 nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) i# h3 j' w% R$ G7 c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 C8 F* j* ^& r# T' q* M# Z) Vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
[* t1 w9 x% K3 k) \/ Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ I5 D% T; m% z4 r, F0 a
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) L' Z& X; t; Cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 x' i! v7 F0 @# i& tDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 E/ O1 q: p. e4 Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 M, C! i! b& M) }2 r2 ccharge the fee defined by the state.
0 L( I( j' p( _3 W% M/ ^0 v: O. w% _% ^. y' s1 j
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; h0 r8 ~$ r% e4 P- w8 ^: ~
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 |) i" S- N/ Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ w7 F' R4 W* G2 z7 q$ @: f. L- Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# w( x' i( t# z0 l2 m2 {0 j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! Q) z% ]2 l" E( U6 W8 c# bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: Q6 C& y4 g' G. h, t* P
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 j4 c3 Z) ?. m0 Z+ ~& A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
5 R5 T6 i W K8 G! Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: X: P6 ]3 [: h* S* ihiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that z5 z$ Q5 Y0 v8 J: G
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" l2 A3 G6 @( ?; N; [3 R
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or w- Y' Q( p% i+ d; w2 B
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 q5 V# B2 J' ^$ b9 R
are spaces.7 _+ g3 Y: a" g7 a0 A$ [7 |
- W& B$ A, G% A2 ?7 o/ I/ X. ^
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 ?, z) a) f( t) O8 W# }
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" I: `9 W: @5 j- p( D4 L' s7 P/ L7 J. bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ d4 G' l( C; u- b40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" ~4 `: d+ V6 J& e! ]; S2 Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 s! g7 [3 s# f" l; D
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ G- v: n6 u& t, `1 b
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of }/ W3 O" `$ ]% |1 |. ?) A: ^, T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; x* c) T% v8 S& iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ _' T; _# Q6 ]/ p# G: s We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
