我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 V+ A" [* r2 |. Z* i# w
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 e5 {# G- ?( C8 K3 }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; ^# y; ^4 C8 ^( ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' w" [2 `- [+ t2 [1 B
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 b; L; s- R( H q$ f% o) W, n
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ O) V( ?& r: ]# |" ^7 `out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# t$ t: I: \8 Y+ K
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ B& s. H, B% N# `9 R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 X3 K3 U* v. ?5 S* I
medical schools.
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, g9 O% y; I0 s# hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* G t0 i) _4 @5 [9 L; P7 U0 y1 G
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: L6 I; ]3 V; F# m% O L! Wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 i0 p' z/ r X, L+ @8 S
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 a3 y& y* H/ a- p+ B
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 y7 }" r' F/ b1 B+ Y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 q3 C! K: r' Iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 f; @. s7 Y& A! U. Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ `; C$ U0 Z6 w+ E9 Q! G5 B
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ ]8 R! M: E4 }8 W' u/ r6 e9 Qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& e" o) k% j# H8 H* F& o4 C; m, l
6 S _3 _9 s' A( R+ uThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 j; I5 \1 T o ]5 Tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( p( @( o4 W9 K* k/ u; h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
+ m: ]8 a9 T' d! O" J! fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 [" i, T$ C4 ]' `- D* tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 D* S5 @7 R M" f
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ D/ M9 s: D$ D$ }% p1 P$ s! t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; m% C+ C- s6 P: p. z+ rDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* k* M; U" k! X. a" }! o1 d
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! j7 c4 ~' |+ t: Vcharge the fee defined by the state.8 \. I: v8 C: V3 f$ ]
& o; o7 O3 |$ X1 z- W) u5 \There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 g& l; y b1 J/ h. t U( ?on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 u" Z$ Y" j! a1 k% p& S7 K% Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big) s T0 v! M3 T `9 [9 `1 |
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 y; e9 C \% ?& z# P2 z. Q0 w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 S) ]" v& L6 m. N2 _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on j( ~# j1 m- t1 n1 R7 d
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 q; |9 {, J/ j2 m j* L- Dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
D6 t5 o, t9 Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; k) U- W; M: {/ t
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 ]; Q0 ~3 G. U, Wpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ ^' _8 d5 L4 T$ E1 v8 b H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ _- n# y1 t, V/ {+ D: n8 ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ q- V8 D7 i T2 f5 a, P) }" care spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) z2 K8 l$ @* p& q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 ] w6 p8 I, c& B- J/ ^own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& Z/ u5 _' S5 G7 G3 [. e6 O% X
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 H% `8 G4 {0 ~) m, u' P; E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" H6 d* G8 ?3 G( B Z/ V3 e! j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- B# S2 s* o2 I( |2 }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 m5 j- U3 C( O* o
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# [" a5 Y% l; d. i# M! wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! S6 [$ D$ J7 Z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
