我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 ~4 K' |6 }* O1 X3 h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, [0 R) U. l7 ]! {on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# z1 I \# H8 L1 p7 B. Q! q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. r+ e2 S( h' a; K g, g
answers to our pointed questions.% r% K, s9 L8 F
1 j& w: |: x) T' {The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( _5 ?- l- T0 w9 H5 d, h
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ U% } M: v' l
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: }$ e3 {* ?6 t7 |( A
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. Y4 J+ @- R* Y% }* l' G+ T
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) c% L8 I6 h# P
medical schools.+ a. G; J+ _- I
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
1 c& W! ~$ Y( W# q' y% n' O I, Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 r, A2 n# ?- pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; e8 ?- J1 x, D# bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
: W+ H' p6 m9 _' f% Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 f, E2 F. @, W6 C1 D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 q6 |9 m% U; F& q2 W( \
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 z+ T" B |* L+ o, `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 O& F- P0 m w& R7 \- \0 zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 |6 O6 _' P0 w9 d! b5 t( i
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" @7 M4 g) u* |8 nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# V: k- q$ v8 J8 q4 [
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! w) C0 p5 V; W3 L, P; }2 L" w$ r) e" zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) C% |2 J5 q m4 kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 }+ c8 t8 ?/ [$ S0 Ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( P( h. x# [- l5 s
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- J4 O/ ]' o, ~* W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* _+ k- X8 T1 J) i+ P$ U
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; u4 f# A3 K, i! z! n2 C
charge the fee defined by the state.
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4 X# E$ y) n2 ~/ eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, U, q$ l! {% J1 Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# }: \$ {$ J1 b+ T. ~- t7 S/ J
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; Z3 j) P4 F9 E7 _; c7 @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% }" M8 e6 ^8 M# F
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 R B* y2 j/ |8 a8 _$ j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ M# {5 T6 J/ i* d1 p2 r; O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ p! ~( y$ Y+ @) e" ]% E) ?9 p# Eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 u3 V1 Z8 C2 ]2 O* h9 E, d
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch& l! a2 G4 ]' u4 P3 V6 H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 z% e: `9 _" z8 |! n9 F& E) {2 L5 l
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" e, F3 v8 ^' j9 Z$ ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! ]! |3 u: r1 T
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; a/ D4 ]1 f! a4 E9 D# ~1 l& mare spaces.* t9 m& d; H1 h9 B9 b
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 W( V# E9 }& C% N8 B4 Z) S# V: \8 m2 ]
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# _, ~, e5 l5 oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 n1 E# i# r. m# q4 N4 [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
z6 W, E( p' C! `# @ aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 t$ Y7 k3 Y. q2 x7 y% D
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; z& w. {. k; B' rnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of Y* g1 Q& M; O/ `* D) Q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 e. K r& H( ~# D3 b& h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. j7 ?& c" h; d. H3 w2 T! v6 |+ Z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
