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& |' R' L& X( L" U. |+ m
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 p. j, Z& ^3 y& a# u1 ?
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ A, a' F" X ]$ x8 d; T! L
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 o4 F/ ^# ?; V4 ?; banswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ g) \5 X( }7 f3 c% P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 |' T3 |8 ]- X- G! ]* Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 @( c7 _9 G. F9 tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- I9 S& K, s: {to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 E& l# J# v* a1 g
medical schools.7 z) ]- _6 w# q
0 L/ j0 D% h0 R& l% a& N/ u% J; XEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 j# ^& H! [* a! c/ n2 ]# m/ J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ U. W p% m3 p. p/ r# ~/ P0 U% k
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* k, P7 U( J; passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, | a g' Y- tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" P1 w, \6 p2 J D: }2 K: `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 n8 O) f {' F& ^3 O5 f0 S' Zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 w+ H- P; T" A( y$ z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 B, Q+ w7 I0 y8 n+ s; p7 O0 X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 Q* p$ B+ l; O$ w
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( a- e7 t$ k( X1 G4 ]% p5 e5 z
! i% X$ d; g M4 O' qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" w, N3 i8 p8 _! c7 Eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; F# j. j. y$ j( nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; ^+ E' N$ o) s7 T
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% i& l/ F( t; f5 e. y0 zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 u7 H- [2 ?6 E( Asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: |; c' P f5 a; c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: s0 w* z% z. S, x7 a; ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 g2 H/ C: c6 k0 F- ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: ]% M+ ^" |* lcharge the fee defined by the state.2 u! I" U6 _. a8 W( N& U' U0 [/ ]
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: D% f% o! {* X( y N
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* R. }7 p s2 N2 [( d) j5 ^$ ~, ?
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ?& _7 K, a: l4 t; B ]; G; q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 ~- n5 c1 D* r0 [/ b/ A& x7 f; nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ S9 Z6 ~2 I* q/ w" ?% {' zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; W8 z U1 g* _" W( I' pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: L7 U7 b1 q; Q! z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: z% G9 y+ ` h9 L2 f( htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
p& m* p: g8 m1 K& z$ O: `9 rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! r! n" p3 h5 K# |( {* ]
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 \5 G8 N% L2 Y. Uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, A3 C$ y/ V7 Z6 ], X2 c& H, B$ Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 Z- b- R. I$ J; fare spaces.7 t# U- {- X, \1 f# N$ q1 a
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 o! u* ?! K$ T I8 L% [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" g' G6 [0 u K/ ]. [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' ]3 u8 ^( H* k4 n9 s5 V' ^) g2 _
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ n& h! H! v7 v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! ~/ B8 |* c/ `9 U% b7 Z: L6 C5 Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 y# f! ^; R+ m+ l5 U
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 m" K% }) b. [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 ~' p' s, q2 Z: ?& T3 v' cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 E U/ I5 h# m" e6 U7 x( X f! e We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
