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
1 \. f- J, Y- j% a1 [. astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ u4 D( I# |9 }% `on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% Y; R& l. z8 s8 |: P"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& R+ s6 d5 G$ b* c
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; y1 J9 ]/ R7 e8 M! [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) b7 _% t- ?% Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& z0 ~; {2 _2 R. H0 q! w" T2 t+ i9 _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ l3 w& d" P9 h2 B) m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 p8 W" c- m0 @
medical schools.
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; \& I6 R& r' ]8 DEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( ]8 `. X# d3 a( U6 p& K$ S; G
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ L7 `2 Q& [& b! _& w8 v. G9 J/ ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 O% A* N1 i( c
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ `( v/ G" a! a' N$ z* j$ ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# k" P/ B0 g i; x3 x
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! }; E H8 `, P5 I: [seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 y9 r" o) B/ N) a* _6 |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 L, p- @) e* c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 p }4 V# N4 O( R3 Qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- ]2 Y2 z7 M" m" H$ F
5 |6 V" z8 P/ z+ x. g6 t# ~ pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 M2 q/ Q& U# u, \! r; V4 R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% e/ O9 g( W# |* dsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( g& ]1 D! [' R, |2 p2 e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 a' k" S+ I. |6 E( q" O E, Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& } @: p6 b: |5 vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; V* |( D# `* Q* X2 G/ r
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 G6 S j% Y. C) {Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 [' S( w Y( Q( L9 o% ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 M; O( b1 i( w. X, \( z5 Mcharge the fee defined by the state. h- h; S8 s8 [8 M
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* s; V. H4 O; \# @( |+ c1 t9 ^on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 S* S. z% S3 M5 L# a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! @# w" B/ |( x. V. e) m! n
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& J) {8 ^/ X/ g& ]+ P
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 `) ^/ `( u2 V7 t" y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( E. q. m$ {/ {( L
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" D3 Q8 l) H3 I) s Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! s( d( i- r+ I. Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 d; l5 X; u5 [6 T7 M7 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; i2 R7 _+ R; @1 {1 q0 Hpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) o" J& z% Z+ n+ Y: v! @. `to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& n9 t$ k* U5 s( S8 f
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' k( J* Q$ ?( y g, n1 D; [# p0 Nare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( _3 X: K9 ^' p* m" U3 g) j3 w; Y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 c: m6 M. X- H1 `" n- Q+ Oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" X8 ]0 i- j- ^ B* }$ x40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: J6 V# Z! `6 h. B7 r; ?8 {. i. ?parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 e/ O* {0 Z9 T* V: j* o2 l$ Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
# ?4 x7 r; }( A4 J0 N$ H9 S# Hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of T1 y5 h2 k) I5 ~
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 `4 }4 y( P) ], Y8 {
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" e' i* m- O! X+ V7 e* v9 y, U We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
