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
) j6 z3 ~/ n% N( y; J1 Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& P% }0 y3 \2 l4 b# _5 E5 S" t7 Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ w8 z0 [! H" K) B1 c' ["George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
' a$ f4 k. H4 }7 n5 j+ k+ Ganswers to our pointed questions.7 Q" ~0 ]# q9 I
\( e9 D2 w- q ~0 Z( ]2 e; T( NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
Z, c, \8 y+ [2 q2 ?0 a% X2 S45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* t& {: C! x' x/ {+ p
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* G! E% f: m$ n# i' Dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; c$ p/ s9 b0 u3 M6 h( r* qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% w: k% y! M% R
medical schools.9 _5 x2 P) v# [) ?
, b; h- [( e- M" d- A( \Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 Q0 v. k3 Z; s. N: c
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ l6 a( a# B+ {- g* p; W4 R
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# [( m$ P1 V6 T9 Y$ w8 ]$ D
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 }$ b) | _3 w
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 n, t5 B* r8 @
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 b3 R! @1 p A2 K& Fseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
J8 l( w. O/ Q% X& lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; C' V1 c0 t4 l9 O/ S9 K: B. p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% K0 [, N# h4 Q" A3 E \! S
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 u% n6 b Y6 U0 i/ ~# U' o- q, ]private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 |! M/ c g; Q$ r2 C4 hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ }( j8 J% C( H; N8 a( o* B
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" \( k/ B+ d% Mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- l" `0 ?4 X. X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 {! n* G& h) k% e' ]3 ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 p5 K. k8 ^) n1 XDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ S, J4 ]& V6 w- I4 f% @# J) o
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! C- y4 K% ]! _( H! Z. u- ^" n. R
charge the fee defined by the state.1 W1 K% r) O2 c2 w) W& q3 W, ~1 f
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* }* s# E4 o$ Q t# A, u2 F
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ C& }# o* D( l/ ^4 o2 M2 Rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 k. b4 \# d9 _4 y8 xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% p/ M. f* E! ~
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 W M4 A& Q) L8 Eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- W4 ?) ? B' a3 ?5 R. `
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 p8 ~# w a+ B) I. x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) q) U" E* e/ V7 a+ J- jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( Y/ { m, E1 j) b/ g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that `% Q0 D: q. M7 i4 w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
. f7 H6 g- V: y) [to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 i! y5 Q# |; I# ?6 ?6 _: Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. x+ {- i3 P/ }* Kare spaces.2 {9 p& t5 t& _7 Y
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ O! c" e; e. o$ [4 Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( @0 z K1 }/ X, vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 V3 G5 L% U; A" o/ {3 i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* I9 z3 c) w" W9 I+ E7 U4 A2 a
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- \) ]- B* z, Q. Q/ `0 x( G
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 ~5 l8 Y7 f. M4 j& Onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' x1 l) P3 x: z" F4 S+ ?1 g/ Fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( \: L/ C( V( I9 e" |is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- z6 X/ P! P9 ]/ Y! B4 a0 I We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
