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
" x5 b/ M7 R1 _* }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% T5 E7 {, |/ I. H. M
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* q" W- G, |& t7 W4 T! ^. C$ _: w+ O
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! U( }3 T# L6 W! }9 N+ u# L, F
answers to our pointed questions.; n6 u9 M& @ u+ B" y# v) W
6 \% D) R& j: x
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* C4 M0 s/ \9 j# T0 S* P8 R- r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 c* f- f! n3 |7 q6 ~. G( h' c
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& p! D3 m1 P# ~& ?free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 S* i6 ] C6 P. F7 l5 [; Yto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 e! b! j$ B1 |1 n+ b2 ~
medical schools.
# s, O# g( _6 w
* M2 H- d, }2 pEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the k7 }$ ~: k* _3 w
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* [+ Z& ~# F5 F& C1 W
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. P; ~5 w% K/ b6 q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) J6 ]7 D6 M0 U5 ~7 ]8 |8 I8 h/ w, G6 `
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 U5 B/ G8 d/ c5 \$ M+ `8 o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# K; m6 j# Q$ T* u5 U
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& j( v: G- j- \4 G$ J) U' ~
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 `$ U, }4 y" C- w. z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ m! K4 R/ }% F$ H; ~sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
8 _1 i! G+ p$ V% A! {- U& J7 S- U5 X- e; G9 x' O6 o* W, [
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, G( w7 g2 |" D1 ] X& J# Vprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ m8 ]/ V: [! R3 Z2 E. p; D
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 Y A) l, u; V4 q: w7 dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good3 d+ v8 i0 Y) ^0 s7 p
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: X1 L) N, m! D4 B- v$ |9 ]1 G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 T/ M6 I g- t" ^4 Z7 _
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 P# K+ ?- q( G% DDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* J2 R4 U/ D2 t. l6 x" p) I/ T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 h1 M+ ?' j* L# v
charge the fee defined by the state.; o, [ z4 Y/ k) R2 y/ v( W
4 }1 F* X/ w& L: F! v, } `, p7 aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 }! J2 @9 n) t; O$ l# w/ v
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type A, T. P! _2 i
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ C, R5 q! A! o2 G6 T) M" G* O# P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ I; B" P' F8 [! v7 P9 Lseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% C" ?' @+ W( H8 kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& \+ d0 X9 p% Q$ Q& i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& V" e+ ]2 g9 N" a9 o0 D
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
" `4 I9 N2 h" w+ c, Ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
t* N' o/ m& w6 Y! I- t$ ~5 \7 m5 Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' [' n+ y% Y3 r. j- |7 `, ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, X' p+ E# V, u, H) }# @- t. {2 Y4 {
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or q8 J9 Z" i( m. K% |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
" U) B ]7 M, }, y' z3 Tare spaces.; u& W; n- j$ @ r0 d
1 v0 u7 a( g/ I0 A& c5 ^There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& G' l. o. H5 ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, ^; p; ]9 B; jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, w2 x$ G5 w3 f, u/ y& b6 y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 o n% g6 U! [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 `# r. }" p6 W5 F! v) A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- w4 d2 }! q. H4 O) Lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 Z9 j; w- s: `( K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& ?4 H, O4 o3 J. Yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., O% J) e/ ^0 f
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
