我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 R/ c5 w/ J+ ~
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went H' Z2 {3 i* S3 _
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 o; r. j. o G! W8 U/ Z& J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ Z+ u1 v( ]1 i- Uanswers to our pointed questions.+ ~" l& Y# p* u6 H" z: ~6 |
3 N7 h& D/ l: ?; u* i0 p' MThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. p2 R, Y* |" e& Z; @$ ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ L; ~" M0 e! T- m0 {
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# z6 n5 }, v) B, \/ q8 k T# ?" U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( V5 J; j& T" c- t' ~7 z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 Y1 o' P) y' l) o3 O
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 {; s* N' S1 a/ C6 r7 X2 Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. k5 @) C! [/ O3 K" U# fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years c+ y) n& e; T- N% ^+ R0 y# I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: e5 E5 Q+ W( f1 c
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% U/ w% O/ l, w9 X0 vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ [) q) N2 Z: }3 ?" qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- l' T3 N7 [* ~! U2 J; qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ J6 [; K& r! ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- a: _. v$ t: ^8 O. {/ v3 I) T1 C" Ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 G" u% T, j/ m' F9 T
' u, ]/ R8 S9 w6 |; |' I( B; Z$ TThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 Z6 e3 u$ r e9 k4 }% s' r2 H
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; E4 ?; T, D6 m! {. [$ ~# i z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 c7 W& W4 Y- [, D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" k7 q& I, N) }4 k: z& T2 N! J+ v3 {thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; D4 V5 T+ S$ e ^% R! hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! j" }, c: u% m! T2 w( x" F( W- ?
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& Y" d# j7 F( m( U2 e
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; m) O$ k" C: v! w, a0 Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ C- f. G, U/ l! q. B7 s' \7 @ C* v0 ocharge the fee defined by the state.: k' n. [" `0 a+ Y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; ?1 H$ V: w. ^* ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ H+ S/ g6 c! a1 ^, kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 x D7 f/ W2 @1 `0 C! ~
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* ]; v _. q0 j: y% l& q9 X+ J) Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* q" D9 V* T6 C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 F+ O% j. P( Z6 k" ]
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; z6 }4 ?+ D7 V* `7 E, ]you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, Y# g4 L" [( j7 B) V$ w
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! `2 {6 Z. }+ C* `
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: |/ o4 e# A+ m% p% i$ }# P. wpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 A; Z. Z5 Y8 N& W. S9 B- Y$ l: P# Sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% Q& }5 c8 T$ ]0 I3 l4 dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ c4 e) b( E/ n J( I' S
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 x ^! }. T, L: F2 Z2 t, v$ ?- g/ Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 L& V7 L/ S @5 fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
) J! y2 B" e$ o" u' s/ T0 ?40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' `3 \8 y4 ^; Q9 m
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- [' H( x: Q- R! e9 kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- Q0 u& e7 ?4 i% S- t( U
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
/ F; A1 N2 S' L. r, M; Rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* O+ q" t! d' R- x2 F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 v" f, j/ r# D% A) t% a- h0 `) I We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
