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+ K T# U, m2 o) W# b% A
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 {$ O! ]: V/ [' t0 p8 j9 ]+ w) u9 \on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: q& _2 p4 Y: a7 p2 a& j) x"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 Z( u2 n2 z" \3 \" \answers to our pointed questions.
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% \ w: {2 W/ R6 NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ C/ P* O9 g. _4 K: K$ m( C
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 k4 }" W) X1 p8 t5 t B' E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" }/ M( O' i7 J% W; S
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, G! q6 I7 g' ^( y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. b) g% |; {5 A1 Amedical schools.0 {( P+ B a p: _
0 V6 R7 _0 x) u7 `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. c/ `. `" A& q8 g, F! Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. l; N4 l- X9 j& }8 I& x8 W/ s% A
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) Z4 n/ p+ }) ]" hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" H- t. \# V! E0 m8 ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, W2 M' e4 e3 b3 h. U0 D" v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ r+ L1 O- |6 c
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 G5 V# v8 x4 {- M
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% S, w& D; z6 B& v7 S
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' s6 N0 L' {% u- G& R `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# {9 i6 W* B* }; A' Z- V% }+ _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 t, | Z- Z A% X4 \9 n) {
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& k$ Y) E9 r3 K8 N! }8 n, C+ khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: w6 D$ _! d; j( F+ ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 d& Z* b) D c% \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. C3 t6 _7 \' Y+ ~# V7 [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. I8 L% |( {; K$ E w+ i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. E6 g% V! P t$ _; w, D$ {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) i, e* b0 ~" A( h; F" j z* Z! N9 p
charge the fee defined by the state.) [( s, s/ `7 {, m
/ x# D5 [! k( h/ H3 |6 lThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 n; X9 d- P! N. t H0 {9 k
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% n1 B2 P" C* \; O5 ]
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big) u7 U7 I: H8 t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel Z0 ?; ^! [9 Z; j! o
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% Q `9 V9 n m% @1 E. m# Z) gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# h! e5 z+ A0 H8 }3 T( m/ s5 F; vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 l. N$ }( f% W
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
H! `1 s2 n! v& J" J5 Qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 G' a; d0 o- W( e! v6 }
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% b1 b5 E1 T. Y6 p2 T$ [people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
a" M. p. b" [; g: Y6 [# eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 N/ ~- s0 e0 ]8 ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) C) y. q4 P- N
are spaces.
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0 g3 v- ^" }4 K# t" F ~There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 J+ ~* N: a, Z3 I6 }$ r
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 s. D. M" P. nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 F7 L% T. W! v# b8 r+ y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 A4 I8 k- ]& }3 J6 t5 b
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" y" X( [, U% _; x, Y1 \
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* b3 t, g2 j9 m2 S& Y% @5 W9 d8 hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 ?3 _! M) y! x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ o: c8 k" D5 r# U0 ]+ s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; x; N ]' q# L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
