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
4 G* j7 @1 s. U$ c% Q5 k% F+ Lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ k* X+ O G. n7 t3 f: ~ _
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! A, f _2 X, ~8 O"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
' q" I7 L5 a) [9 ]" Aanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 u7 F' J$ |1 Y& {+ T45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# w3 b& M7 ~( b. R" k; U+ w0 K* Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) s2 T: ^# I9 I9 z1 }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 z- O5 V% ^; j [! Uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' r" y1 x& J+ ~8 x: {, O* Pmedical schools.
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0 S+ S5 i6 J$ r3 i, qEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 o; L- F2 T' F5 Vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ ^8 u4 d( |1 \2 g# c9 F8 K2 a: ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* ~$ R! O6 ~- s
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 {* Y) l! _$ t% k
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ z1 e: J; S) O$ U/ j6 R% g
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" Q* \- b& W6 E9 v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 t* J. X$ A. Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 R O0 o# v+ p8 j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 f. j6 p5 A8 h5 _& o0 J9 Ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ d8 _- t% W7 H Y- B8 M) J
# [1 R3 g, ~6 P9 V5 X: g; cThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" T$ f* C% ^* H$ n2 v& u
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 V( p; r5 J4 c1 }
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! Q; f7 Q( Z7 Y5 O# K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 i3 @7 Y6 t; t" G
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" k& w' }0 @$ n: L( K: d- P- x% Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, Y; Y& c# G) h, m7 h' |4 e9 D5 s; F+ t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& q" X4 N0 o5 `" {
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( N: c2 ~4 m V, O% m5 D- xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# D4 `6 T0 P f/ |3 n [charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# ?8 ~8 A7 H$ \) T5 z8 r
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( ?" S4 r& ]. t1 H6 t+ Uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 }. E5 F2 v1 ~3 h. S+ d3 Ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: @, E& s+ J# n/ F) n" i mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# I1 k& z, f9 A+ f+ C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, X" }- C! H) ]$ T) ], ]" @, dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 L! M7 h7 S: S" Qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' v' m% |% G3 H6 i( h& ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! ~6 f% {/ L! u8 k5 r2 yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- h/ L6 P( X; L1 M* F' c
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. b3 J& P% u, X$ `# O( T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or K) K$ _) x2 [# O7 ^1 x3 V8 v
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 ~% ?4 n i0 V! F, u" ? _
are spaces.9 ]' ^/ w6 z2 L, t
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 P8 {7 {* f9 U# w. m% rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! P8 R( S; v# R5 p- }' W! w* Rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, T8 h9 v; n& x4 B
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ e; x6 b$ }, I% e7 I$ b0 Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& g6 g5 m4 T, T; n' R" l
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 Z. ^$ t7 _! G( B! r. Knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ t% v: o+ C1 P6 y2 k
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 \; a" {& l$ M; Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 U4 d' O3 s8 e. ?- N We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
