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
) \ x$ J- O1 I+ A( x, Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 F% B! C0 n: S7 g* v
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: I! m2 h- `/ k- {: l# K
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ F2 U) V' f9 b6 [! ]answers to our pointed questions." T! b: s3 S, N& ~+ Z$ J! ~
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 \" R0 t2 n' Q9 T$ c: `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 S7 y# }5 h7 h) k. E9 Z+ y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is' R; C8 T; @ h1 @' p) S4 \9 h
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 j& Y2 k4 w4 f8 a8 x" t) uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; F, k5 t1 g4 ^ C! Xmedical schools.* f8 }! c( f: q* v
& }7 Y9 |* z& w% J6 gEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 X1 g: T3 W( U; Z8 Q+ v6 ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) [% X5 |! E: T Zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years ~* T% D) [% g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% ^$ j4 `4 ~* v( r
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% f& r- c' j. m8 @8 ]
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% F6 I ~! X: M, P+ [: hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 T% i4 ~) ~1 m" m8 S: N! v) ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 C$ q0 O, W# W2 ]6 Zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ P9 {5 H2 u$ i4 H/ ?5 z9 V3 Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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7 E2 Q) j' j4 N) o8 bThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ u8 M8 b' a& G) M6 B0 k2 fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 ~2 X f1 ]+ H4 |, G+ |
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& f4 ~7 G& d% ~have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# T0 k: Y9 V! ?5 r
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% R" Y7 ?- ]9 w# _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 E) H! e$ ~0 i# X+ w. ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.1 q. P% o& o9 y9 H1 J
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! b4 r) D, L5 d# b1 f+ ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 a9 x- y( H Q2 i9 Ucharge the fee defined by the state.1 c/ v; @: E! b2 H8 S# z
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 S, O3 _7 M' l9 P
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* a5 `, f: a% E$ z! u1 \* f& q2 w6 }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" c5 P: I) [5 d4 ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( C; G! S- l% X2 `% J- Q x( Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 U: u3 [6 r7 a" o% o" M. M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 _ x- l& b- W* u9 ~5 E
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
N0 N0 ]& t( p6 `, qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. f* M4 Y) H3 F; g/ ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* D; j3 ?7 u' N" u% y2 nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) A- S3 w" o( L* e! k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 ?; R: ]+ ~7 H1 x& F
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ H# t) \6 G: c6 a/ }/ n0 n
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 R5 ~/ D! p0 \1 [; {* `- oare spaces.+ D4 a9 b* K: c( ]8 P
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. [8 Z7 }# @( D+ Y% vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% N) ~9 }# _& y' Y/ lown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 G( g+ J, H: W7 F9 X J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' C. O& I! E' e# m+ o0 [% L1 rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) j) ?% m' X; B8 i
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
_$ c0 s' L9 O7 H1 [ q8 hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ X3 o% s8 I2 z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 w/ |& E: _, u7 Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 S9 k. R3 h, u$ T8 r J We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
