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( E$ {; j# ? D2 Q% ~8 ^# p) z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 g/ u& Q) e' M g! E9 Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 i# Q- K- _" l# I6 S
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! \/ Z0 K8 J6 w6 {4 |answers to our pointed questions.
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. P* J# r5 P v+ zThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# Q. B* ~ i* D% T* s; F* m" t3 }45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; N8 D/ r3 e7 g1 h# E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 S% `+ g6 H! U2 t$ h2 f' m- Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. b$ L* s7 B4 l; G
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& e8 ~" @4 J! }medical schools.
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8 L2 I: W5 S% ~) L) a& r8 xEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! _: ^1 N9 c+ J* s) z" Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, S* N7 a1 s( b4 Y% Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 g, _6 n# ?9 b% Q$ B& D; [
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- X# Y$ U& I K1 W) j
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* V* R: B4 i7 {. l+ p7 Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 @) C8 B6 z% Z+ s
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* R: F) R" {$ a
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
! \* ^5 X$ O% P1 ^& Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some! T6 O7 \. B* W7 R" v
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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1 x7 A: w- T* t' S' O* o. ]4 J5 B+ }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- s1 \' h, M- c/ b. ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' F2 g; x1 i# e, Q/ o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' Y9 H% j7 d1 ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 h- K" q _4 n
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 _: N# j7 W9 d
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( o0 O2 h/ `: l0 qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 L* Y- X5 p. W7 BDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 B3 }3 I+ b* X* R8 {- N' Y' sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 I% w3 y+ z2 T2 K! B# Gcharge the fee defined by the state.. F" q) b9 V3 c3 l& t( o
2 k& W0 x0 U4 B6 _+ VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 T; ]2 I7 E& q4 M" b Jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# r3 h1 k; w8 Q* l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* d6 b3 V6 \: X7 c- R- dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) z% O7 y' H* U, x/ s) g
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 b4 _" o3 T" R' } Q' Q$ qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 p3 R7 M. R8 F8 D4 ], |
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
k. l; X0 N% j5 J1 B! z4 byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. B1 ?# s9 t0 l, R7 _! d$ t
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% [9 F! B9 O; {! q! P+ Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% l* p! C( Q# |" D1 S8 F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 D; ^, f. o, Fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 K9 w @& ]% k" N$ \buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 h1 a$ I. `) E* J. _: _are spaces.1 F7 ~( b( L# z0 ^
- O4 G6 X' a4 r0 P1 JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 w' M f2 }1 Q0 U+ Y1 @& c: gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
+ c% d- W5 Q- mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% ]+ |2 \ H& a4 n, x- F% {) M- L8 M" ]6 e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 y+ X/ K$ H8 h6 [6 }9 ]+ kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) E( A) D% ~) j% J' K3 F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* i$ O0 X7 m. n- T
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; p; e2 h( _" x- o$ @car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 |, K/ n& Z" V- m/ A. k! q3 e
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 K; n; g+ X1 e/ ]' R0 C We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
