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
- y% ~- X, m. ustandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 M6 t0 r- N& w) L/ n# S0 r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 D0 D, r" e Y V5 G5 w! T
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 U8 R; \5 d. q* J" j* j! o* M
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 X# z& G; S3 d: u5 d
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 `- Z2 ?( D* v& a+ Z9 E) i
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; ]. c1 R/ B2 c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: E9 w" A- H- s- n3 H8 U+ p/ D4 s
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
* ?- H" G$ U" V1 @/ Q3 E! imedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 u5 a. Z: e) {! k/ A6 L) zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 O; b/ ~% a* p" Q% \to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: F, d, U5 ]) Y& N: j" t2 j
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
: F0 c) E4 c% t4 `7 p* }8 Xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' }4 X7 S& J* dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" h. L) _ W6 v- S- x; vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 z6 n" a! W& Z" v
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* j! p4 g# T3 X" v8 |) N) b
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 ~' Z A; o Z" N, J% u3 Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' `/ o- L3 ~4 y T- K% w, U
- S# H7 Z4 w' u+ D8 a/ W0 ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 W: r, e5 C( j* y6 u
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ \0 `/ ^$ Z' asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( @5 P) t: x' J- W' p) N- |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 y6 u! }% y& y3 K4 O0 v7 j0 Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" J$ u; ]# b1 r' S; G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 ?& c# W: w3 ?6 c7 |* L" \4 Jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ F' {" m+ W) {Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, G6 |' u# S1 Q( x4 p0 r) Q+ ^
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ h+ e1 P& M1 ~: Hcharge the fee defined by the state.
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# t" e# A: I; U4 X2 DThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ O+ T5 I3 _7 ?* p4 eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 ? P7 k: F/ h, H( A1 I* o8 dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# Y3 V$ m, V! J, Z/ u9 [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: W- G- m- N3 O7 {* Q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) F+ b& _1 T! t% m+ _& k. F. u
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: l% O+ D4 d% g0 l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; z' P+ D& l' D1 |you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 T0 x' z! R; g; W8 e
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
( G; v( y" C1 P" Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: R g, L, e* O6 o4 V
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 j$ {' h. ~! ?0 w/ Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) s$ ~8 ^- l+ K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 b5 P( e4 H; Y/ n) p- N6 dare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, C) _9 A4 M! `6 N( ]) e
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# d' m/ O, e' A) N
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
) S r* m$ R; B. c, s+ ~40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 P- E: ?* X5 A9 m+ u0 Dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 ?3 D* I# h$ V4 D8 |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
: s* V% n. N$ T. |3 k8 V1 m5 t: Wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 s4 y- g' l* @ ` |: Q& Zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ n# L, \, ]9 T$ y0 w, Z* n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% J; ]0 v8 p; J+ U, L! Q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
