我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 M! J* [+ b, f" k5 g; j
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 G6 m+ C1 c9 f1 o( H4 }: N/ Y( Won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 j% I! N0 _1 X' J; D"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 f0 ~3 A7 w7 e% G# q' B
answers to our pointed questions.
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8 N0 y: g& m0 g( p: p; N; s% c. HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 u( [& o! A; T8 y7 g* Y( d& L45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ P$ g) ]. q" q/ J8 }$ tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 \# z# X# d! r' S
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 h" R2 e0 s* R0 I% A7 k4 m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, I7 y8 z9 U7 v; rmedical schools.3 r; V# H/ x5 W
: q/ l" W( }# u4 f$ p* j0 ?/ QEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ R$ g6 ^* r/ s Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ \6 T2 c* e/ `2 k6 [4 @: K% Cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& B. K4 K" q8 b2 E) L) X
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# m; A1 |9 N9 K6 a
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# k B S4 o/ Y( M4 X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! M/ s7 L& y) d7 S( E5 @, useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 X8 [! m8 H! i9 ~% }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 U- G. j5 y4 {4 Pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) k' a; P' f$ y( i2 nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 a* j& |) `) w6 k! \: j
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
@3 ^1 t0 Q8 }1 m1 |% xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, R6 N8 \- L- T3 v8 P; Q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( Q7 |2 `. K1 A% W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 Y6 Q# \0 u9 D1 V5 r J" H8 `9 R
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- t# D( G( |' ^+ n
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& `0 |. w2 g" A' f& w3 A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 Y6 G0 |7 i" y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: S' c- d1 O) M+ V, G% l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 R, i: v: |2 W7 G I z6 K$ Fcharge the fee defined by the state./ g9 O, h; i/ k( v
6 u3 S8 ?( r/ n0 Z* EThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ @* B4 O) C0 s7 Z0 S f) \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' E; @7 [1 ]) q! n
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
@. g! U: c% A8 Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 f; J8 I; c: Q+ T6 Y T# Q# gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) b: _& N- Z2 J& lworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 }0 o- |: n( w5 ^% U4 S- B/ Q2 q& J& ]schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 y# B8 B( N/ O5 U+ Q' T. \7 wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, o& y( t7 V/ X- G; Ltrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# V( s6 Q9 L& P- s% vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that0 v: p7 |) _% K% e5 p: Z7 v
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ U C D. ]) Xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! }6 q6 n. |# g4 V/ n/ e, L
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! e2 Q. r' l7 _9 ^! j: L; Xare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 ]! ], I6 K- T9 B. z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( f) _( A& d% \$ m$ `* j' b8 Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% @" l" \5 l9 [7 Y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* X% S& z }, q1 H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 c- I+ n% v* @2 z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 b: i7 {# |/ ~# A' O3 b6 z: c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 o9 J+ j. p0 j: n0 l6 ^7 r
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- z4 j0 P: \; G: x" e) T" f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ w- @* N9 h2 i* O% e- ^ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
