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
2 A2 ~; K( Z6 |9 q) n1 Nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 k6 g& ]0 r& |# ~0 C
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- `4 X. P. M* i# o. D }, E"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( l% p" R$ Y' A% P8 s) [answers to our pointed questions.: d# w% u6 f2 `$ N) l
) P: b& M; E0 e9 g: UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ j1 o j# q# b& D
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ n0 P7 I( D' [out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ Q! N! `, g' @# d+ Z' j ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: o; L) {" ^& N( w0 L) eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
* e! M$ _. t# u% \7 Y& V( a7 i, Fmedical schools.9 j& C" p. e1 x; S: ~ T6 q
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( H2 k* K1 @3 ?government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ z$ B" c" S$ U& J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 j( {0 W7 l9 _, x6 O: X u2 \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. H8 w! S& X8 w |' @
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% `5 p3 W0 _( s Gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 L& V- k7 f% L6 W( Y: B9 P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- x# Q6 x: W7 B7 h5 K; @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# Y0 i- R3 L- E3 @' l4 F) j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 p" q0 @5 {0 K; v5 E. \
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. g& A: H9 F$ m+ X" J
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 `4 m) ~! A$ W& M; l) t' ?1 i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( I7 L5 k$ }- q/ U) b$ {1 d% B
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 h- x) B+ |( k5 _9 D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, r+ A. v8 E5 ?8 O# Y4 M" V
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 j6 x& a7 H! w8 W7 Vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 R1 x7 B2 Q) b& [3 x- z. h! a5 A6 ^
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' l1 s- S# h* c1 j: mDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
$ R: T/ z4 L; za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 j) C8 D$ O: |. Q6 r; Q" L* @charge the fee defined by the state., p, z9 O* A2 ~
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( d! z2 J5 f- ]on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 t: l4 R \8 r8 E! ^, o. y H F4 f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& b9 x& B5 S1 i( `5 Q' Y, B9 S
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* e% {6 h! Q: U7 p% wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* w) S& t; u$ ?" O/ G. y iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ y, P; X8 r; M/ X2 p, S/ L
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: r& |! ]% S# H [' A" uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( M( B/ ^& q6 g" W) R- F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 V# d9 W$ s, Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 V4 e. g( d7 f" u- I% Z+ D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 w; j9 |6 j/ y# ]1 B) A* F
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 r( {4 |% M9 q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! p$ E% i j* m" l, `) T! eare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 m" r, S3 s4 ^* p, [$ w
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& Y! L9 [# V ^# C3 v! J: j4 Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& C- g! R; a% S: J( d40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% X( C5 U! t* K, h0 Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 J: N2 w2 C( ]/ V( _- j! Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 W4 ]; X0 M# k
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 o& r; _ t6 ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 u1 M; U0 `. H9 M
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 Z4 ]# a( F" E1 I9 c- t8 L
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
