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 t( R% o- m" I8 o; a7 F
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
! @" H! i( l8 ^2 b+ ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' _& a& f- r+ m+ Q1 c& ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) c% W3 [" z5 C( s/ p2 a6 kanswers to our pointed questions.- T3 h! v+ q, U8 P
) T% x+ R9 t7 \6 UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 i) O! O; |, g( a& V- B
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ I; j$ A1 X$ o0 [out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, s4 x! i# I8 q* r u# I, A$ K
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- R0 E* O8 B- Q" S! i, V5 sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" |( j) `/ v- T' I9 v6 x8 \medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. V, h: d- f! v) J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 Q0 n8 }, l5 f' H0 W2 U+ q- X, K
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- c/ ~( k- Z) a. E: e [" b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 |, U1 L# D- k6 N- P/ c$ p! z' O% |6 tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 t' y3 y" C! \% n3 }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 K# q, r% X0 h# o
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: b$ G% r4 b# \$ Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ o' Z7 v( M/ o8 |shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# T- E5 g# V, b: l- k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- }( ?, @5 [' I2 \# e% V
4 P( V( j0 H" \The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, R$ o E2 k+ N% s( ^0 d
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
2 M/ b# i9 C+ w, `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. D0 S$ h8 M. B- @& g" u% R' Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, d9 i8 _1 d3 f) N. @' Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# r" q8 {7 _! M% v; fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 D3 v/ @0 S0 ^: h$ Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 E# M- y9 l9 i6 c% V4 y! o
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 Z- S) ^0 K- `# X* R# Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ Z6 u4 `9 L: S2 f6 I
charge the fee defined by the state.
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3 c' Y5 R3 B8 G: F6 C; ~+ W. \" _/ G" FThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ c8 {1 i# O$ e# m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
2 d6 |$ w1 X+ `, M2 Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 i% ^; X- |( ^$ `( c2 ?/ }
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ |) h. [+ N/ I3 ~! V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the V) e/ Z+ a. d
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 a2 f# Z. S# T3 B: ?9 w
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* j! b( Q1 W: t6 @& ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ ?- a. f0 m8 C. L0 J
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, m! `! ^$ K5 `8 Whiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 J z* U$ c5 O$ B; F, Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; P! ^! X: Q. Q, Xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 A1 h. O/ o2 M1 H. V: ?& T
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% Y% Y- o# O3 Q! F3 m' h6 A' Iare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& h: q g6 x5 o) h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: p: @8 _+ Y$ { l3 V9 J" W: ]) Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- K9 Z3 o' f# }: {# B+ [1 l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 b* R; h( s& }/ ]7 ~; P
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. {: K9 I+ N* K* w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ Y b2 S, h1 \! o% h' ]( G2 {# R- Dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ _/ _: _" H \* ^# S; C& }+ J
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, S) c6 G* j) l0 D
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- k9 }8 l1 h' ~1 O, D
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
