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! ~% e; x$ k; [% z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 R8 y, B6 m P" g: D+ P5 S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* M, N8 m5 f7 x) G, K; C
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give I8 u0 q: m2 m) j
answers to our pointed questions.8 x" a+ B1 C X' {4 D! } O
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 k- x0 F% \& r3 H! Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 e0 O1 _& R2 ^7 k: c# ~
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. [; X4 \0 T7 y! N6 `' d: k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. U) M }3 @: r) R( J' w9 w1 sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ f5 t6 H2 M9 q. l% Z! N
medical schools.
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" {% R. ~- D1 f% X _0 U5 P, t# mEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the y; ^# b) _* V
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 |# O) h6 u: u7 u% Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 o V0 d, ]) m9 l( l2 T( q0 t$ tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& O) d( ]0 m" M/ A! n4 ]( ]" W
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; M+ O& e% J$ a8 x& d! b. K$ g V! }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" n- c. B9 S! i4 |" q. j4 V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, G4 N; M! k; B* j
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- o8 B9 s* B0 |
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! \- X6 f$ N9 V% e6 |, [+ Ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 B: v1 Q9 D" U& ?- ^/ i4 Z
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 a1 ^; T( d* I M. T9 K' ~8 Tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 c- H- ~: |: e* x+ H9 u6 q: H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& {) @2 v8 X5 u" Y7 h
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ Q6 K- i0 P8 w9 T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 V5 b$ j9 N1 x8 X: ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( w& J9 s& M4 Z0 M$ E, G! W4 ^( Ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 E# T! L$ d; [6 n3 ?+ f& xDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 I6 \( W% L+ a7 R
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
^# U" s z6 i/ P7 m' Hcharge the fee defined by the state., b) t/ W. d2 [8 {+ t
( u2 c- @; G3 jThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get ~- N5 I+ ?, ]" N6 `
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
5 M: _5 ?: o m+ G; m: Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. V( |3 G1 a) T5 V6 i* m" T; j* G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( k) D; [5 x3 [, H Y6 R/ y* H
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; M4 f. K: P) u: e3 E) K9 Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* X5 b2 u: ^" V0 l. r* D* a- vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ L: t3 u# O% r' w' a
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 c S% ?! {' X' l: y9 ~
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. d3 F) B* H; ]' W* hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 _! G! g7 V( S+ W
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" [9 m9 G: C6 p
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ j8 w4 q- A6 j0 R) F/ t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% O& T4 s% G, T: X+ A) x6 ]4 Z# G& L! T6 I
are spaces.8 h) l* B4 f3 @/ E' x! c0 A* _
( K' m! |# }. H7 z0 u2 }' g" OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! m. j5 @6 q7 X$ a# }" xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' X4 E# `& L- [. b- W9 @own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ {6 }! R6 n' [4 d0 p
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# c" o# [( ^4 _* T# m
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' l6 [/ `; c! W6 _ K2 k
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 L- j. i! |; c/ e2 H* D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ U3 F3 {$ n: b6 I# ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 a5 k) q# Y- }. r9 R/ Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* }2 I5 P) o7 K5 [# t# ^& R We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
