我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 `$ _2 {" X9 c4 y+ T
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ I' X1 s' q2 B+ i; Hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& q' T) A, A( d: m
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ @. d( _9 A6 T+ q
answers to our pointed questions.
) E/ j4 y/ q0 a" e% E; p. s9 b) u3 d
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 A2 C5 N- J9 U4 w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 i( Q+ v' M5 q; Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is i+ G3 ~$ N0 q T$ M; g! {: r5 M
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 ?! |. x( e- {) L6 b; Oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) Y f- [# {- T: l2 l' V
medical schools.% T2 G5 E6 E3 _1 @ }$ X3 P' W
2 z! c y6 }0 Z$ WEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; O6 M B6 e/ X) K8 U: \: L" p. `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 {) S$ u4 `6 d& T) Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 p! c4 s w# `" a- |! t0 A$ P! T+ sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 d& ?1 _. x1 U9 a% Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 K; s; C( Y: T7 A$ D1 q4 C1 aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There H0 V- W$ L1 q2 l; }/ [5 K
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 b$ C+ p& V, U. N! y) Y/ qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* r8 g% Y% m, \8 ]" o( J- }2 V( sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. ^ g! `7 b5 ]3 o% nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# D/ [/ X t& e) y
0 y f0 `3 A/ _* C/ Q3 @1 n0 LThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
; `' {' g0 k6 Z9 h2 k+ F' sprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; T) @- _ [9 N( esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) s) W. n# C, o& `. X2 m) phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 }; P- H9 O) m# |6 S$ a3 i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! [# S, Q7 @ C# F8 V- R
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 l# K" W( z O+ F. ?& u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 R" a0 M) H. g4 ~ `
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: I9 a! [9 K+ P" M0 Ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) D) R# Z! k7 R8 R2 V$ ?* ycharge the fee defined by the state.
% Z, g5 R, P3 A* k$ p; G
% ]8 A4 i! \; {, S1 E5 x+ Y* l$ x5 {There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, h3 p3 ?+ R) `6 V5 @3 K7 G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
A* H' U3 @' a+ h3 aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 \% S* c0 A" R g+ v, Q s
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel a7 U/ W$ l0 G& N4 H$ i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) U/ q/ y; v$ k6 w" N) _$ Z* `& V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 D3 \# j/ i( O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 X; L+ s4 N* ^' h( Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# V% F, S# v0 A9 g/ x* Z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- O8 `7 W& |5 d3 |: U' q; Y1 ~: C: c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) I; c& m. o& J5 c
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 D) V. u& D1 g7 j! q6 Ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 b; O+ s5 G5 x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 I& C, U- X4 P8 Q' _are spaces./ B# z9 ^0 ~7 v! q7 l
* T1 C* G. T3 w+ N$ E- M
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi% L0 o; B' r: ^3 T# W
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 U2 [2 R4 I; l$ T, bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( M: t( E, |( {& w) f. S6 Y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 u8 N3 E: L' {% ~0 S& {0 r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ i$ h( _: A- f7 {3 y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& y* k3 i2 @( p# G3 q$ @* _. r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 r$ u6 d, P2 q+ b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- e+ W: b" e7 I2 S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. B* I2 J0 f& o8 e8 m) N* ?
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
