我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 r: p7 c1 i, G0 p4 c
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' H, A$ U3 A1 l9 O w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 n9 B6 X1 D3 e" ?# j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ m5 C8 }( K/ D6 b
answers to our pointed questions.
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2 C' K. R/ y" l3 ]7 \1 RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) \4 \# M0 W7 |" t1 @- X& S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, E- _" B. K' _4 }9 eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) j' F: r0 Y' B" Z, ]6 D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# B* E- D, a: K; e) ?9 {, ^+ N- {, Sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. v+ {$ j' {& ~4 tmedical schools., J" V% A6 Q" i) f
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) C; j8 x# ^% X: C' n( K% w2 E9 N3 ^
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) P# C& ~+ D4 z* M- uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
0 w" q: l/ \0 @# bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ]* ]8 b3 ~+ f" r& U& c! C1 ^" Z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* Q: s7 A9 \6 e- U* C- W
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 U! [ P$ b/ Useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) u) {, ~, f& ?. C5 [
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 F, Z% @. r8 x D. M
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- Q3 G+ Q3 l5 V8 \+ ?8 L& I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 @6 y* E" j: L8 I+ C9 p5 ~ y N
6 `$ v( u9 w1 K' DThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
& e+ \, E. p2 L# A& Y x" Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 U0 ^- e3 g' O( A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, k7 N. R( P9 ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 E; K8 n* R j" V9 C& {. P. r( _6 T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. J* U2 z& L/ {- _1 i" B; K: zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; ~- L7 ~0 n5 I3 I: q r5 x$ z1 ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; _* y& u1 y ]6 Q4 {5 r+ o, d5 O
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. B5 i7 f2 F. w0 {- pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 y- K+ Z- ], b3 `5 d
charge the fee defined by the state.7 O5 O3 {7 u4 b- ^; Y. J C) H
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 i; j/ G/ C% l+ r' \: X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
& _. Z1 C! y) e$ j& S# q/ |: ?& ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ y, I+ h6 f, h% n( }truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 v% g" ^& c2 x+ }1 t) a6 m) a9 p
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! r- V0 g% z0 a0 G7 K6 i" e: vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 L- ]3 O% J3 D% g
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 Z1 b, S3 |9 B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 \) f6 \. P* F. Z1 _2 J$ @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 }' ^2 r( f( I! }
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 B) T" u+ O7 N. {; y& k e! B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ X: [# \& u. w2 gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) D! c4 z% `0 P5 z( x. z( c% S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 g3 _% M, ]' U$ T1 J2 Z: X+ K; e, `
are spaces.
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4 C* g8 F3 {! P2 c. E# OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( @( q+ K. n2 R- f0 D9 N" p# b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 `' B; x! P4 n) k Q5 X! P$ B: t
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' d0 H% G& R+ Q/ f$ z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 D* P+ y. L N$ L
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 n# y: u) W; N$ r
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* R. {: W0 U9 Q" A& }( ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# L1 L. \5 m D# z2 W) f7 n% L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) }& m9 G2 d: |! _! ~" Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) i' f8 ` K+ K% [* Y6 S; F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
