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. l) y) M6 K/ K5 N& ?+ B5 ^7 Q1 z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 y) Z* p0 n4 C) t" A5 Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ X7 U2 w8 o" {( L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% o2 Z. g1 X: I5 Q! [
answers to our pointed questions.( |, v$ E) a& k( T9 x
* J( e, H' x+ x5 b0 H$ R4 `The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, k& J S! w l C
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! \. M' B) V" @8 S- b& X9 H, o0 Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: z6 o8 C/ h3 _( Z; m( qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! W: Z `4 b( B5 n1 Q& V
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 c& d8 N" \3 Q* |medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the: L# D* N3 L6 u/ _3 a5 {1 d3 \+ y" U
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 d& s3 S4 C b, l+ zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 A- t+ q/ _5 [" K0 k* W3 rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, N$ q4 G b. D+ B6 {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; w+ |! b3 r9 V1 Q g. `" [
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
. K" L9 E* U, O2 T: ^! R4 wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' M5 T) X' A7 @( ^8 y6 H" U; _0 bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 C# ]9 r3 F! r& T3 t
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! ]! r7 h* D2 S9 L. r0 esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* f4 u' |! g6 @9 a& `/ s) p( |
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 l* J" w2 R9 W! Y& u
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 |$ X; A7 |- G7 X; @) ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& m; ~ B0 P% j4 [. Vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 F! o7 D [& r7 ]( x" cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 \' z, i/ M* }, s1 j% e( a
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 i0 ]% z; V8 O6 Xdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# ~2 K( A9 n$ q7 I6 f9 b, {$ E% F; K) _
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& u' i. Q1 y. F% `/ s3 G6 Sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only N' w$ u& s$ V0 N* t) l
charge the fee defined by the state.
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# `5 d5 [" d' I0 W, [3 E; hThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 a1 O' R2 }& z# H# X+ L
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, U- x+ i; ~7 V2 gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 j* j* m- p, |/ O- I% [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 G( C( p- P* Z% H4 `, u( w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 M' I r# f7 {, K! u1 I' ?
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; k+ N1 R$ W! e' q. t* uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if# e% Y' h M7 |5 i) ]$ i
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
# J% o9 V4 |! y& m# p1 _& ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 y. d& C8 T" A N$ chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) I* P, H& e- `1 s9 o- {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) q* ~) P5 I( s! D. S# R$ Dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 a$ u9 F/ M5 f+ ?# t$ P' nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# ]0 x0 }2 h. `* ~( H
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ ^6 p0 m) t( m& _; k& t: Y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, |4 e& d; u/ u) }4 j$ F0 I% E" cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! O$ L' k6 R' F$ A# [) _
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ }/ n% x$ ]' J Z0 w
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
; ]/ `* ~; Q5 w# e2 Pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ O1 ^$ k4 D. |) N- v* J% l3 y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
- V1 f; _, Z: j T) W3 rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 \( T) r* O8 ^ y4 J2 y8 P
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) ^( j9 v0 z6 O' o) P We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
