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
/ v, Z1 [/ n6 m& |+ s# Kstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& I. ?6 M+ W/ n# R( \
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! ?+ q5 y3 b4 d3 {, L
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ k; H; n6 W" \1 T6 V0 lanswers to our pointed questions." u) Y+ S' s6 v) n" b/ J9 q' r& L
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 U- M. _6 V9 o/ t45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! P; ^7 G9 A+ n% S. A' K3 ~
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 |% S% w- b& e3 h; E* b5 p8 ?free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ O, Y% R7 {6 n! v
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 U+ E0 m, ]- L9 g5 e
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 v9 [/ G+ _! A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 F! m2 z; l/ e0 R) T4 Tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. N, N; M' z, ?9 ~8 J
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- D# Q! S& ^ `5 p# }# o" ]6 ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- ~2 p* |6 a) B: k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! L8 K: Z2 e: E+ ?' ~5 o% u- w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 P! g# s6 d: f) `* h4 L* F! z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 D1 x2 M: O1 D. qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some# h& K8 m# n% }$ }+ G
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, D* W' e% @2 o: C6 DThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( G% J" U, }& X' Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 S- X3 G. [' _) nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
r6 m9 q$ w T8 G5 qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ ]: A. d2 J8 P6 L7 `8 gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 k( c, p8 c- L/ s$ p
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
V+ A1 e! @9 u7 t6 v! C" v8 Fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 H* e& u! [& p' K+ l E
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& n( R% P$ p% W$ k+ [3 M0 I" x
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 v2 F X$ @5 ^5 H! Y5 w- t% ]- xcharge the fee defined by the state.
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8 ] @+ v, j' g6 S& a2 Z9 U7 R& tThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: J1 r; x1 }0 c7 \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 Q% O; G" R3 A
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. Q2 L6 x H4 l; R" Z( Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel c7 l" D# O" |0 F) n
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
L% J, B4 l! a$ P% tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 W* B7 e* M+ V, f: Bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ d/ y9 ]5 D/ ~$ z6 |
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% n p# b ?' K/ _% W
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* b4 X; O* ?8 Y( p# w
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 w8 f$ M1 J _
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* z3 I! Y1 |- O
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 M# V- V* b: Wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ }; w1 N7 b% B) ?! x
are spaces.0 m8 [# o W) h! E( J
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
7 |, A: k$ J, Y* X: L) W$ s Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! V* _* }8 c" M5 q2 D
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: P; ^2 r# t) f& r9 h% O40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 p3 K3 |& t1 m8 V- S) ]( l- T( rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 X" J1 X0 _- N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 h6 I( Z7 _6 ~" Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( |% K' ]0 b# w8 {0 g7 } _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. k' R( r2 x* }" i' z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) n+ {+ w9 Z; Z' D: z5 ` We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
