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; G* Q9 |5 D3 d3 L a1 a# I
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 l- R7 ^ [( g9 \5 Z9 R, [ t0 t9 `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) e9 F- c& W! D! \( W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 ^9 g4 Y8 X! @' J% J) ?' l0 D4 ]
answers to our pointed questions.
' y5 t# q$ U. ] ^1 c5 L& y
6 g' r& I3 o7 M9 Z) m/ WThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ V3 Q6 C; B; u, O6 t6 e8 z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ C5 x s V! \6 {+ r. g$ W- e& Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is H4 n5 b9 j, G" M; E. Y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' [& ?+ S& _9 b* o) i% D- E7 W2 A
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 B. P& F5 a. [1 t/ d( d: U
medical schools.
" J4 t$ y/ y4 [- X. b& Y' l, J# d( |0 J ]
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 P3 v7 X# l _5 n, X; U
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 n3 V+ n3 {# g- Cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 k. O$ j g. }# U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba. N, R) T! s2 B d: B" g! v
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 N. r% F0 Z+ S& C( T! V' l
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
. E* }6 Z: Y2 l z' _$ R+ yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 E: l/ @* A' Umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! ]7 Z0 W/ w- z! N1 k1 H* o1 {
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ m% P ~- }( }6 N3 s0 U8 O
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ s; L- D% K+ J
9 o/ w, F+ G; [: u4 ]' B/ p/ {7 @The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: X& F* n/ p( W/ ~# bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 t- `% M+ Q* I3 u
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
+ E7 g9 k# l% n8 i1 j( C% D. Z3 |/ {have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ B; _% g' z' Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% E0 y: v/ e2 o+ l# G/ m _
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 W9 e/ M$ x) H" ^- }% F; Qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 R6 {) u$ j. M7 U# B* N6 Y6 WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 f' Y. _* b2 @4 _9 M B
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 W. O7 j+ ]9 g: j2 v4 V
charge the fee defined by the state.
$ i! c8 }0 O( c8 ]( Q) n% b0 z# m3 Z( n p( {+ y8 b) F- a
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% q2 f$ D' L$ Don), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* |1 `" l: z. M7 ?& e3 F! {of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 B- z8 [. B z7 X+ y! n" t6 Atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( `7 y8 `5 |( v, f. x. w+ I1 i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: |- \1 m) S: _) M: i1 K1 g) G2 g8 Lworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ {4 F! n, i$ z! i3 Vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- L# E! ?1 `7 U+ z8 A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ c) q/ B6 ~" }; Z7 N
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' C9 b$ S1 q; G/ a! Z7 m) ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, ]4 p4 {1 _. S5 o* p6 e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, B. n2 C6 O5 L% K+ b: n
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ p1 r6 |' k$ m+ p* N- p
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
9 Q: j7 R) `- a/ ?# o e, q' L, Zare spaces.
6 g2 s1 k" v. m: p/ X C( W: N" U4 ]* [& y8 s
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- ]; ]/ p! H6 V9 V- X" J
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 R6 E; h3 ~4 P; Q( s* Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ n+ ]9 c7 v+ F; G+ z; Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) l. @& `+ p+ H& E& c. u4 q1 F
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 g- ^- C% u- ]" m: y8 sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 C0 M3 O9 ?# i) u; `% Q8 V0 X) Unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) h3 c) D8 ?" w9 u# ^car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! u( t* D! i5 `" ^8 e. @3 K E9 P3 Mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 a& F6 _1 i) a# Y' ? C We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
