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% A8 c; K) X6 ?( n2 r
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- I( b. X( [, z; W1 aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! R y$ I( }) j) _1 R. k"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 A! }3 P1 _; @, d$ L
answers to our pointed questions.9 Q) ^ h7 M5 R6 j0 L* G
3 p; B6 E! X& z1 L1 e$ aThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 {. k' t1 \. r: j' w% o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( E9 d9 H( n/ A; n" Yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( |& [0 m% g) M7 V. a& \1 a9 Y, z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 _; `- ]& W+ p% k) r, P. Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 K3 p' X' U* ?) amedical schools.
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! ]7 E& U) E% O" w+ a" QEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ `& R; p1 y* ^+ G. \# vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, \) y) h9 n) s: Q, _; [2 Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
0 S9 t' R1 N8 C+ `: H% n( [1 C4 K/ Oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" s# m$ D& O! n/ O3 U
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; ?7 o" D# D; j! n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ h8 `9 }$ ~9 s9 S0 ~
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 P5 u1 j/ E, u. f: ^& ~& h# [5 F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" T3 x" y9 m# `6 }; u
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; d# w8 H T# w# E- \5 ^sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' Q6 f2 ~4 D7 H8 x0 f
) A- d6 Y% y- @2 ?, V6 ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. F: R, [/ P; H
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; {( c' `3 L: P. t# Bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 z i! `8 C& m' M. O4 f; W7 hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: X# K. [ K7 z3 X1 T$ N6 Q% p, pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( c. Z$ p/ y; ]- }" @9 ~4 e/ q: w' zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! h1 Z9 Q* y3 O# m# G9 b3 Z5 U( @
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 P; G- V$ k# z- V b; u0 @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& J1 M% p5 n2 p! E1 S, Ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, c. `6 Y, p, `: o% P+ |# Jcharge the fee defined by the state.
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" y, v& `% h9 I5 u( X% rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' k, p- [- ~! I9 |
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, w1 }4 O! y& B4 O0 v6 K7 w" _
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
0 w. m1 ~7 d% p' U3 K) p7 R ~8 etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 W. W0 a' x$ G0 r$ k! o: Wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- ^& B; V% j! L1 Q0 F' I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. h3 F/ B3 s2 R! Eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, F4 k. ^* _% E D4 wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! l/ h; b9 F% N5 {) r" D% L
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 k7 `; x d6 ~' E7 P/ q( t0 V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 F2 Y' d. l" J% B- U' C# rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 U8 N4 n5 _3 f2 G8 S: Z( G3 `to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ i4 a1 F" l: m4 I" p' [" |0 n3 H! A5 _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& T% C7 \% Z. _: k
are spaces.6 y' t# Z! G9 ^$ {
4 c9 I+ w* _, u' G5 mThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 B) F. C( C) F1 c& Y. q9 @* x
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% J% |3 w" [! M, d
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 i% F# m0 k- z) \/ |! u
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 b$ v9 a; G$ r8 M: q6 wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
; m8 `- ?" M) ~# K9 S. kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
: j1 ~+ \% H8 A1 u% ~nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 }, r$ F# P1 [ Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; P7 D }5 ~- a. c+ J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! ?* M- e. L9 P" E0 X, ~" j
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
