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) d! t2 m/ V3 y# d" j( w' f+ Z) l
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 x1 K- z5 |3 L0 K: r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' N0 l& W+ x* |0 m) S- A- d2 `
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 P& s0 o7 a7 U3 ~! d
answers to our pointed questions.$ `! d! D) |0 {. a3 ?6 U& s9 Z
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 m1 Y5 m2 ^' g4 g1 p2 m, z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# S) `/ ?7 u! n; r3 u. y' r8 N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. k( j* f3 e) k% m
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( e; F4 s2 h& ~; c, @9 {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
% @! E) A. w: Q Zmedical schools.4 Z- g6 F% X' Z/ G
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 z+ u: S0 @ B- e% W. k8 Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; O0 [: E3 L" `! `5 T6 Z$ ?6 r
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 g' @6 g" x$ @& T3 t5 o3 d9 v
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, |0 H# f) V; M2 G: Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to q$ n" {: n6 b
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 b0 R# z w1 ]' p5 S) V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* h+ G% z1 r% Q1 I( q8 a' T' Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 R; m4 ?5 m( h+ ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some( r8 f' ]9 }% q# W7 ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ `& Y8 M$ N" C2 K
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 } y( k) e1 D/ ]5 Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- d$ i5 e" t! _: o2 S& J `) }supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; ]1 U& u8 ~% X8 M$ S+ j) w# vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good& ]! ?9 ], i1 e$ M: w; W
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ U v; a; S! d7 l# ?5 `$ x" ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high n) T) e Z/ e2 \+ O! ]) k: y
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 u7 ]$ P1 O4 p O1 o
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" v) }2 F% z! _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 u: @0 Z% c4 @& Z. |
charge the fee defined by the state.% a- k' m9 }3 e+ _
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 _) L5 R3 c M. G1 x
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 n8 G7 q* F8 D7 P. G& Vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 V3 o0 V7 m5 I3 R7 Struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" @, ^0 v1 [8 _. X: c; B; h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; p; R9 o5 B% K ?) z9 hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: T+ Z3 @4 f$ n2 F0 i1 p! h0 M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ S; d ]' L' f: G/ c! E% L# Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& B; ~1 V1 B, Y5 ?& I
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 ~* C" V% U4 t
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 E1 R, x3 y3 S# f! P1 F; ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 b- g+ M3 r6 L1 W$ L6 R) d
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 n* c9 s) f3 b- i, bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
0 Z: A) v( C5 m% P" y4 pare spaces.3 _; y6 f1 o( o* L; m
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) j. f9 @1 R3 s7 `. f- |to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ E! N. Z% C* R: S: w5 J* s
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 ^! m% }; I- D3 m: C1 p% d40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# b. e8 g" P! `parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) m" j+ m7 I# wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ x+ J& b; ]' b! p1 k7 I
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; b! F" n: W* }" q- Ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ `# ]3 Y# S, {4 w- K- His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 A: T+ m' {' w3 T% F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
