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& x" }. ]7 Q. x" D4 A) I. H( r8 Z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ F3 Q9 \3 `( @1 ^% O8 d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 O6 _3 O/ d( B"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 {! ]# ^+ Z9 q& A( Z1 Ganswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
8 o! o6 G) r1 ?6 Q5 j45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 ~7 b7 _* @' S: H" W2 X- c4 U2 Aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: l# _4 E* k/ tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! y4 ]3 e# F! {- _# h; x9 gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, s* t( e4 b' u) R( _2 p% Y" u& M3 T
medical schools.; z- E* l: x0 _( ~
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 Z7 z0 X2 H- M# e
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# k7 H+ L5 y- r' q, rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, ?, U) @# Y) G8 r1 O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 S8 O. H+ ^" E8 n1 o$ G6 x; dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 K' D3 U) [, B1 K* N' d
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, d% c& g+ D( g5 s: G, ?6 pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- {- C3 p8 ]4 g9 O. T9 E
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" ]8 {' |5 i0 _% c& Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 _! v& K: l" q0 n( D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. O! t! t* a# C( v. r7 u
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! E7 y8 m7 o/ S4 a N2 Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 b C/ `& S- _1 |4 t( N) ?, a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& j3 w7 v+ [- Mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% L: c* ]- i* V7 E+ u! r+ X
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ ^) n# e6 V ]7 |! t/ ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; |% t; K1 l: f' E5 kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." Z9 ^4 l+ w/ {$ N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 Q) Z4 d6 J6 h* x$ H7 p6 B& Ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ O: j& \1 @- O- [/ [3 f2 V
charge the fee defined by the state.4 A, T' _" S4 P' d# V# o
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 ]& U; }; N7 b E3 N# \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& `( c. D, {# I
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 f! F% n1 ^" ]) v7 ktruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ k: `) q6 v% k' R1 p3 b& C
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 ?+ h& l3 y/ q# a- w/ @working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ \' b% x# P% U3 `$ U8 r: c5 @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( N& O& L+ G) C2 `$ D" Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 F f* V: t/ V- o, ^trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& L. h% Y+ W- s2 r- v/ Xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% h. J! h2 I& {! D- ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! C6 d! c! N) m- o% `to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 N/ J4 X! ~4 j- sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 k( a* u5 {8 `, o# t! s# ^8 M
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 ^. @4 Q3 ^ L( b8 {9 L* Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 x. R& v+ x$ ?" S6 e8 L1 down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* d8 \2 A* ^6 G& D
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; R1 D/ |! n' H/ U* m( \parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 ^+ \. T Y* cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 }2 `6 f* ]' g- t7 R, g6 \/ nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 s9 v& A, R9 }# Y* bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. }9 Q M: T7 v! L- r. [( b$ a. I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 R; o1 Z9 ~; V- A We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
