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
- ~* ?7 }) C; |: @+ n4 Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& ` S0 q: V2 K$ S, T* z: T* T
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," W: A& C3 F Z2 U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 ~( ]- [4 \# u0 V9 H: p8 nanswers to our pointed questions.. A l! P% |( J5 z+ b ?. ]
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) D- n. {9 `6 U2 t; G2 ^4 r+ \
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 C& P* _, j1 _1 G7 l% K& Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ v6 O6 W% D m: Q, e
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
r) P6 I! N6 g* \; J# cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
! ~7 ~% X7 F) jmedical schools./ [8 m; r/ E+ V# K8 u ]1 s! f. g; K- c3 k
* v- }4 V1 I( P nEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, M) l4 ?0 U5 b- I) sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 s" t6 V9 m3 o4 t
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( |6 V7 R& p/ s/ e) y% N, x% Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( c6 [ G# e/ V; y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% c+ `" r; A2 }$ U0 ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% H$ w1 L; u/ e ?, K
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 p. }" F# B: i5 E/ imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
J" [0 I9 O+ H' ?" h' Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some% N2 J" o( V6 I& u6 j
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- h0 i V; ~* X6 G7 l! g5 f3 O* L
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ m8 W- g4 c+ V% P' T6 R
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ a" g. Y$ l0 y0 |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ c4 ~+ H2 e1 @2 \; T) i# qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' q) i4 Y2 V C+ }, X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; i0 N. G& l' x, cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 x3 d: k9 ~/ L5 f% J' zDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 e/ U2 @7 d" j( l7 y& _4 _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* K0 l" x4 r5 _1 \charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" }# {6 ]9 N4 X/ D) w$ m; S1 P
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- h& m6 m, i" R6 t4 V3 F' d" p
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" ] V4 |% I8 j" w
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( U1 \/ O8 M! W5 Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) ]8 n" |8 c( Z. h- F3 y) y/ z2 Mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. p7 @0 x+ ]. }( f9 D. h* H# Kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 @# S4 C: j# j# g
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 A/ ?$ M9 F# y( g
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, V+ b( S4 c- G4 uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& H- V. Y; h6 v# Speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ Y3 j. u' X; _% M e: [8 U; N( ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or P0 ^8 F5 K; v8 b
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 D9 f4 M6 {9 k, ware spaces.
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8 Q2 u9 n* `$ D& sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 u- c4 ]# B5 b( |4 C* Z) {to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
/ }( x0 W6 R- xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! K' x) u. l8 @* i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 u1 l. w7 Y" w. ?( V5 {parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% s5 k* B! _2 e- u
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
9 |8 A! h; E% Lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ c: {, E& g) Q2 a6 ~car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% N0 N$ U7 T+ D( G8 R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 Y9 g- s! n X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
