我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 M% I( x# @2 K" l6 X4 g, {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
8 R8 x9 U4 `% v7 ^, g# r# E/ ^on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ]# L8 T: t* g a
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 n) X$ I# W; \8 p: |2 w8 p b; C5 c
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ N8 I0 Z, Z2 e, ~1 T9 W. L V: i% s
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 b f. Q" S% O9 k% G$ i
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 p, N8 | `6 w9 h( `' |7 e) C, [free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 ]" o! `+ }! ]7 t2 `to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 l) j( X/ G, O+ @" i; b
medical schools.
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$ H* l8 Q7 y/ bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: l0 o! C5 l- G2 G7 Hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ m% M8 m3 s& Y
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ l6 |" w* e3 S1 T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! W3 S$ B; f/ K. z9 ^: gis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ X' v( Z' `% A, m {2 K) |6 U3 M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 l( T9 w& Q# E; q Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& W# `# E# R# D4 X" Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ P$ R, s* ]9 B4 Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 U5 R! R: w( q3 X( J7 Wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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! E' V6 v: r+ S& d) HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# L% g* {0 Z! \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# c( d% J% y4 f1 X) w0 r
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 |- Y8 d) Z2 \, w
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: {9 }. u4 I# @ Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: p- T+ r6 }& y" _( \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, m+ [0 i* ~2 |4 |2 L/ v* @% z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* e' @; j7 o- V5 ?' c) T( M6 n
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" V6 m3 K* r }# m: |a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! m) ^, Y- b0 H1 X0 K3 @charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% l3 ?) @$ h& m+ }- h3 z* E" R
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 Y, i: m7 Y$ ^8 r$ N. rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, u; L( z% O* c, struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 I( h: K, _3 @. S8 Fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 `/ Q/ m/ J7 |' h/ Q B7 s! A$ H
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, k3 d' E" L: _. s
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; ?, {9 k, C8 P9 R" M/ F& K$ c
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 O2 D* R% `. ^5 |
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% P* a) Q" K6 r' O2 w( Q# P9 n2 chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
L3 G1 a4 ~, d% C& y" ]% B6 V, z9 Jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 R, v4 G4 K" m1 R! Xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 o7 S. M6 q* H- R% ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! a, _8 x" J% t/ e/ _' ?8 n9 H, g j
are spaces., F8 J, F* [& ^- R
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) {% }- d( }; T0 Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 \1 |# u. K; i3 [7 `4 H; {% ?own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& b9 h; u2 K0 s40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 [! D$ Y$ a3 y! _9 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. x; y6 P. R2 I. \5 ~, ~' vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
T7 S; |$ ?% n( l3 r6 O% ?nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 ~: g3 ^1 m2 |7 \# U6 a9 zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 C6 T* x1 B* cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 I7 a) I1 { F$ I9 Z0 d x We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
