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
: x4 T, _* d3 |5 _standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% ?5 t, `* P' h! p/ E. d7 N% H; z: n
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! ?5 |3 L+ U, S
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 p. ~9 `( j( p4 ^4 r$ e
answers to our pointed questions.
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7 W3 m" o9 O aThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 N6 O0 ?$ S5 e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# J# C# @ g& Z/ D+ m$ q& y- S( {
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is' u( K( d# ` P0 ~. O$ i6 f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- ?( r5 L/ ]: v- ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 |2 p4 ~" O/ }9 [8 g# @
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% e6 R" v* t# c/ |& R# Qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! o; t5 @4 c/ v) L# I8 M7 y9 Cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 |8 x+ k2 T7 A" j( R
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- ]% Y; z; Z" s+ u6 N* p, o' Wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' M$ t1 k8 |) {over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- k. {4 H0 |, N: y4 {9 B' C
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. p1 j2 K& |9 h- _8 X/ X" E- Z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- Q6 g- y. Q: B3 p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 J5 Z/ l! J/ S# s+ V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 q9 R/ c( c. s
6 T' } W/ Q, M$ Y d P$ FThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ d( L9 Z; k7 W, h. w# u" nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ |. K5 B& x% o! W8 a+ v
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, A0 i* D, l, k: H* P+ o# O8 \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! u0 `' [, E: I% a6 Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 T8 w5 k8 e. j7 O& Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
% `1 }. g5 h- M! a# Q) l: sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ p& R$ i/ h9 I) U- x/ m( _! [
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When. f8 G6 |/ T7 v+ g
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 F3 }' p: [6 d n8 X8 _charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 _! p6 g9 J! F+ pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* X+ e3 G0 M" W$ C8 S. Z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 X5 i/ j$ h Z8 o! ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* H' ]' h- G& V! kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) r' r6 V7 k v, G* @working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" f0 _' n9 I, B& @# X* Bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( I2 r# K7 J# h" r! a: ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& I3 E* p9 @5 D8 i. Z& mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% B9 ]7 l F7 B: J9 Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ s, k: I* o6 j* _
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 ?) n; \2 U( F9 z+ T. c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 |( W- A$ w3 c: Q3 ?) A; Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 q' Y* ]7 N1 ~( T* d, `are spaces.
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. t8 ^; Q5 ?0 d/ rThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 q8 C' i }; t& E5 A5 n. ` z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( k0 m4 |. o% ~3 _& R. t+ U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 p: Z- r& ~2 j. Q6 {40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ t g5 u! p$ Q/ Eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' ^0 e; C- N2 f: h9 {best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
: r3 a& v' K- F) m1 c; \: |nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ F$ P1 m- R5 X; C) `3 N8 [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( d: x$ l& Y4 ~* N9 {5 q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 y3 z/ }% u0 r* [! b1 g3 N+ g We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
