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" F. B% C$ x4 _# { R- h# Y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; r2 O+ A& C* _( u% r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 f$ U, n9 ]. a7 }; e/ M3 ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ P. t+ D e7 x: @+ X1 }
answers to our pointed questions.' l, `& y. E' { W, c0 n
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* [# j& Q1 S. W3 K1 s8 l# I* i) h45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! F6 u) u* i/ Q) p# r% v; G r% `out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 j3 a* b+ m8 l) l: N' |8 p( Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, g, g# C% f2 b* H" B$ Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 J1 I# A6 Y- r/ p; Q4 X( w
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 M: |8 K1 h6 m5 A3 r9 \& E1 rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) }* d( z: ^8 c
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 l# s- C+ I; U& s
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 C) Y- e, ^4 v/ L) h1 `( S( Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& z: ^! n( Y: y/ r# R
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# U; i5 f+ h) X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: s' H# x; ~* B, F. g
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 Y1 I8 ?( f/ _2 `4 P$ w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* Y" E6 E/ h. W1 ^$ {sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( M+ J G2 y9 R! X. J% Z
# Z3 ~: H* S2 q/ x3 d3 S8 i- @The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
% V U% s4 u; V) _' a- U$ Hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ \6 A$ w" g# {; C* q5 t0 c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
b* r* j I5 @: R* t1 d& s9 [; Rhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# v3 u* e& J9 `2 I6 `# [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) b+ }& I& [ S5 c, K+ B. rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ I( a, k& b9 o2 B1 \+ L+ O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 C, k) M% A. V. V1 J
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 L$ Q6 S. Z6 Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 t$ H7 r7 r7 P; r* Echarge the fee defined by the state.. W+ {6 t/ p& f# K) O. C' T
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. ]+ p/ [3 |; t4 |9 s
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. g. c Q* J! I+ k$ a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ \1 f1 ~1 h/ {! M
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 G) ^5 ], z) M6 ~; ~
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( r, h9 I. |9 S/ t ~4 hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
}; C% q4 x& ], ~9 nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 \+ L# I8 v* w- S" G; ]& s9 Y/ _
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 Q8 ^* O2 \0 a4 T& C
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 K' H) M5 g# p- n
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: x/ n" }+ k" ^7 |" A. x0 z0 R
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- e/ F; E1 g8 Q8 F9 R* f9 K
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- Q! I3 L+ C( s* B" _- [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 u7 b3 s3 d2 y% @+ Z
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 j& T1 H" ~: s) V$ U2 j4 oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# F8 D! g0 v, _# m( z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 w! c6 G8 M9 b; n+ |! i3 `- Q8 ^40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! q* Z0 X$ r+ f/ `( x+ s; X
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) i6 I0 Z+ B5 z1 Nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ E4 A3 C7 X/ U) Q! `nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' r! q( u1 v1 v( kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ m2 \/ h, T( s: t) L' w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." ]: j% e, C. b$ {# c( s" U
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
