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/ I4 O9 @7 v0 e/ `, g# ~4 f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 R& J% u0 x% K1 ~6 ^( w7 yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," o5 z2 _3 ]9 N" M
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! E* C& i8 k7 hanswers to our pointed questions.
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9 Y8 e4 e7 V, OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,! m$ d# a, `! U( e& t4 x3 e7 U
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* @. D1 ^ E3 l, a5 E5 I: @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 s Q' T/ T, S2 g4 d' ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams x1 j, e# h+ T. x( Y1 J2 n G
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 F; c9 K0 P4 X xmedical schools.! A0 I0 K9 c8 b! ]- }9 [
. m+ r5 K1 ~- |6 k; V! t- lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! f6 U. A4 }: e8 {! ~government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! L5 B0 k, Z. Q' K
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 e G% }& ]0 e9 E! Q! ?5 o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# B( c+ z# o5 f; X$ V% Qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ P& \; g1 `5 O5 d# b0 ~over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: b' E, S+ C* Y1 ?( x# R Bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and A# w$ o1 i8 s, L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" D9 Y/ I+ O" }0 c0 c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 H+ h4 F c5 q$ Bsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 A; ?* K$ A# r# g) G
2 B/ {7 x$ w ?( MThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 Q% L6 E6 h- q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% A( |4 \& v) e. O, L/ M# G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: i0 _9 u. e7 B9 |' S: Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: I2 D% f3 h5 ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 s' F; j8 p3 ~5 S6 }1 E* v
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
% y3 Q& q l1 B6 a. R1 jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 a6 K0 m& Z/ |, i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( S+ a6 N8 y. t4 A% ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 x9 q8 P; f: i
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- u% l- n. a0 U! m' ^% f0 gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- |2 J! O0 E3 i" s9 c6 {* D. xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ p9 P7 k& U# y& y; a9 W! ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 f4 e: f" v) Y- o kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ {( P7 D7 h" s% b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 J& @/ \ G* bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ q& y2 t) |& j7 J a1 j
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people T7 [" L( B9 C/ V& M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
+ e. D/ }* Z" G! d* F% Lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 a) `5 ~- x) x$ O! v ]. Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
Z- u; Q; _# K( q' G6 f! u eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ {+ B6 R, V7 zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 K1 C* [* p Q
are spaces.& b/ |2 N, c0 f- h r
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; }: A$ i% D, K2 c g% b" ?& b; g0 O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) d% X9 {" }6 e ]6 T
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 M6 H0 Z! b. a% w* y1 [' x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 `' |+ S, S ~: M9 d4 F
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
; |4 p' P& _7 L* m- Dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( m$ g. c0 U3 [7 o0 _ b
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% P; \- q* |" U8 `% N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) _* q: L& m: x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 L4 C8 V8 I! T' v, S( ?* a! X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.