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
" T2 |7 Q Y, N4 G% _( ^standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* A% ~; a& f& M$ I# v0 B" Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. \$ R! t( s& R! }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 y5 |) L9 m4 k3 |; N" k4 Wanswers to our pointed questions.
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* V1 g1 j9 s6 z+ i" qThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 u$ c- E! s' z9 t5 k4 [$ G2 o
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ P: k5 w. G" J @5 jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, C4 q3 T" j5 g c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 P# D9 }& B- v3 d. i) Mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! N% _) _ r/ o
medical schools.1 g6 r1 w0 D' ]0 Y) F# a" `
2 b# T# Q) {8 M( E" D9 o6 cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, P% l8 I- H" f+ F7 B% ^) E, b
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, q- c) Z; f6 \0 y
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 o, q' ?/ S5 _& A0 cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ n9 t3 @$ w" S" g' y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" k" c- d* j. p' Z7 z- p2 d
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- i4 q; Z. E* T r4 ^5 @# g# s
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" F) N' y) \. ^! h3 wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) f' Q0 Y0 b0 gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some# _+ ?1 ~% x$ S3 Z, t* T! T
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
; ]) C/ |/ R3 u3 m$ v1 ]2 H& c- Jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and0 h- c3 A" }! x; `) u
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 g% O3 D4 g# ~6 ]# `
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" a. o) }' e B" Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* Y+ \; k- [% p( e4 t
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 n) g5 a7 O" c; l ~% \3 I) p8 |
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# K: {! N# ]+ x7 L2 ~: q. @, ]
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& r; E& s, t% U, t4 `1 d5 j5 r
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. y& G1 D/ ^5 W
charge the fee defined by the state.
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, |! t9 Q7 N, rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) a5 M) o$ }2 Y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ x& f4 |* z; [! dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; k8 }: @6 u! ^: f0 e- {2 N; K! Q6 Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 P1 W1 ~+ Z. G
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 o ?2 n3 S8 s4 b! Q" Aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 [* X- f) k! b( z. w( ^) cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) z+ _, o3 {1 j4 x* M, V+ uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people x1 B$ Z/ r. T6 ]0 }
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 n5 F$ l6 c2 u4 u: V( J: y$ y# b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; c) M8 g+ k5 m* [* f# X( k0 a7 e! dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% a6 a8 \1 l. i- d# g$ ]% r; U' p/ c5 kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, K8 i' R, r7 K$ \6 Q& w* N* I- [! `) b
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- m, D! y7 E; U" m, y4 Q5 s! s kare spaces./ ?5 v# k% c6 i( t
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% f1 f; L! i" E$ m6 B) Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 }, j7 x/ ~) H1 ^own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the _. Z# }: A1 X9 Q; E, _- [3 V/ y7 w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& |0 G3 Q7 k8 }$ E. H9 S5 \2 V, U4 s
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ j7 u# k4 O; m; |; h
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. o9 }" k2 b- V1 ~ v; |$ N
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 {6 Z/ D4 Q$ o! T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ Q6 a" q& g- @
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- |7 e7 v6 S5 O! H We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
