我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 S2 y% E+ d5 L: N8 }# }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 r/ ^( Q/ I- Lon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ A" [7 j$ V6 s9 F8 w" G"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' |- T7 E7 V6 W6 S! U
answers to our pointed questions.5 S# r V" `$ ^4 P4 D
. \' d$ F7 j& j- x1 x4 g* |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' Q- {, d) t% `. d
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 o( r% D+ Z9 Y, c2 ~1 P" `+ y# p6 [out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ e4 [/ f$ X4 c% ~+ n. Z, J
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams b/ q, O9 q8 W v b$ g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; ` ~7 z% H& p) W" ^
medical schools.8 z5 K" ]; F0 Y3 M! O8 M2 b4 l) `2 S
9 w- N! h1 l8 O% @4 f7 a9 w7 CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. i2 @% B- Y* h3 n/ a" V
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
], x* s) w9 \to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 M7 x* s9 W& i( Z: s- M( T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
6 j e6 v& U) t: ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! X1 x. Z5 y0 ~0 Cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* x! ? U3 u( S' |* jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! J* ~" P1 h* P5 F: G1 ^$ G
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* Y) I' X ?: a
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' t7 p' J3 ?' C+ o* g) o! g
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ w, H2 X5 l9 K l( h' [
0 U# _; J( _2 w v. vThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 C ^) e- H- y; g4 R c1 \/ ]
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: X" s- ^+ Y; [0 |/ ^- Q, Z; h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# `# D) L# `" H6 \* y/ v) f+ X& [have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ M' q# E( l6 @# o, Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ x6 ?/ @& o4 S5 _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# Y" k1 ^; S+ D: l! ~, idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 d- P' P/ T& k8 a) nDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: C) `0 l6 C: [5 e' i! g. O
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; M7 P5 {) X" `. @charge the fee defined by the state.$ B/ Z0 f* S8 p# C$ y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ e8 i; j6 Z/ L: u _9 Z" W4 non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& _ O4 S3 y0 T7 Y/ {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ n$ ]4 x3 R- X6 m1 G1 d
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( }$ L) q3 U! b9 H0 Q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ x4 Y6 k3 I# A) f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, B+ z! z) ^* b6 d
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* ~3 K2 S; _, p0 Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% p# o% v4 J1 E2 `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 w3 i, V: Q' R2 l
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; t8 F, }- ]8 o4 j( N2 R! Jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" t# Z+ k- X: Vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# _$ z& K: K) m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; S2 E3 v. U7 f
are spaces.3 c" K4 { G/ z$ m1 G' \7 W
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, L- d0 l% U+ ~' m( {. N
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& N' ?, z" }% ^: r; S
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: G. D* T1 {$ U" W5 b s' N H0 ]40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) V7 ?/ ]6 z2 n; D" t
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 a% y, L( Y$ \( Y( wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; @& r0 L% B8 W1 G5 q. Q1 B* C
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 R8 u* I, a M) d/ M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 f1 m9 o" E2 j8 v1 S- x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 g2 c9 d, ?: f
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
