我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 i+ }3 h' ?0 T9 i& \3 }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- _: g9 A: \! S/ o$ `3 hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& ]+ G& r- M) e. N. J: p
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
' \, n3 {) @8 N/ h5 V9 u+ S' r' R' |answers to our pointed questions." t: H1 o- \+ d ~9 p
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' N/ i$ \0 O' `; z0 W
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 F. p+ i$ m# w: K
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% z; }/ n( f4 ^& [0 i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! {/ [+ y) w5 a! m6 r
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ R$ U- A8 C' w% X0 ~) u# M$ Q1 vmedical schools.
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, \9 f3 M D& f, @Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
B0 f' n& N( t# _9 Y; Sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 O' m) i' B7 k4 Gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. }0 a. q: X6 Z1 Q- f3 |+ e, z0 Fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 m- ~) a/ d6 L$ s2 k0 x0 His from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* B* S0 p; g- kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! g1 h: F$ R) V% K7 J8 x& cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: I+ a, U1 r- s9 |% W n) W! D" cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk M q |6 x" X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; S/ v+ y9 o8 Q. ]sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& Y. G9 ~1 i* L& k$ k5 c8 N
; n( Z! E' @; s o7 ^6 x% N2 H; ~The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 C: B2 F! Q2 e( m! ~& J8 o% n
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 }$ l! C6 R6 I* P& G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 n3 t6 b; `% D# F
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 h& b' j4 w* |' d) bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 v8 y1 R) K( D% ?- M7 \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: ~' H0 N6 U# N1 e
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: n+ u. P# U$ _+ Y! V u
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When3 F! k# |8 e- w4 W$ a
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& p& X) ?8 V7 E7 I- U8 i Q" vcharge the fee defined by the state.& W1 K, h7 n# N9 Z0 p. d- I* O
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 T4 Y- ~4 n- r6 U8 Ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. j" U9 E9 r9 I1 x& @* F+ P) Q: ^
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ h. f6 C% k% G; m6 j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 N3 }8 M- D) U8 k% Yseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: R8 y5 a2 ^) x8 M4 m0 z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on g! {3 v8 o2 S' A8 ~2 }
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' k; Q+ Y- D# x* k8 @. [+ L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 F0 P3 R. _ d1 X( @( otrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& B& _+ L+ n9 b+ k4 h, m' p- N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
A8 g. Z; ?9 f* W$ k( W# S, qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( @: X0 S0 {2 L) k# h, Nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 S% x6 x- P6 h2 [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) n3 Y2 D/ m" h: }
are spaces.3 m1 m4 h* q" y- n; D+ V4 A$ K2 A
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
?2 c2 E! Y' p/ h. Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) k3 P) W, N6 q; Town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" L, U' \1 i5 w$ n* s o+ G A7 A4 u- y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 M3 S$ W7 e7 E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& a/ o8 S3 Z8 i$ @best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ r; r1 M: y/ t6 knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 F. W9 W% D7 U9 g
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 o' Q; k9 L# X4 ^* N
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& J" I7 X4 Z3 C5 o" U
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
