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
2 D% W! [/ b) N) p$ z* astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
8 s, R; T, P8 l% oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# N0 ~9 Y8 ?+ z, b"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& r9 m0 S+ F4 i% V+ E* n
answers to our pointed questions.
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% y' X+ s9 o( W0 HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ z8 k" h k6 b) y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, a- Z7 b0 R/ I1 Y0 q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ p9 Q; Z& \$ X/ A7 g$ H2 u# Sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 F, c; V _! I( X# V" M
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' c& T- c7 ~5 c& T: _, V8 x% |
medical schools.
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4 a' V/ c! Y3 PEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the: E5 ^ Y9 y5 ^9 a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" S5 ~! w& E: |( o' N- Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 n1 a) y' {2 I: d! b* u# |1 w
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( H8 t) @) T4 n% X7 T& jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 b( [$ ]9 ^+ E0 l8 b, j" Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* S3 \6 y/ _2 u2 b" u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" ?3 J+ H+ A! G5 |/ N4 C9 b" e
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 j b: J( W2 H% I& W6 Z4 ~! Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- z* t. O. p% z9 O# L5 msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& i" Z4 z/ e* Q1 m
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 f G' Q) Z5 ]0 ?( \6 B
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% M( ]/ [! l; {
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 Z% d |" e3 D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 K4 ^- w8 |2 u% Z. g/ Q" H x
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, O" R: k1 k b- V. X2 @8 Ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 V0 S$ a, V9 k4 D
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 @/ Y% x3 `; S1 x. }" a9 Q( O
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* O, A7 X) J! Y* @; t. c) p4 L! o
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ c1 C) |% B' B; R1 _+ O
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" x5 x: r) s/ _) v+ j) c; O7 I8 mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; b5 l% ?1 M5 v0 J& d8 P: f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 i/ W. y: ~. z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% T7 }9 C( L+ b6 ?3 T* s( Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% G3 E4 d+ I+ T4 S; s9 K9 z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% L- _; U7 E6 }7 |6 ~* I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 x, [4 c2 w* i0 Y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; z7 l0 W) n, t+ itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 w. }2 v: S7 h$ o
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ h: x' p' d6 D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) G' a, ?$ F' q, [to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( x3 ]7 M" A! p0 o9 d0 M
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 F, A4 h: C( t/ V: `9 Lare spaces.: m5 \9 i1 j* {5 D& x* W; S
. z" I6 d: [( ~2 ^. X! Q& BThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# k _0 [, C0 Z/ b- g! F0 i
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* i: n* b$ Z+ |
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& q" U5 L$ q' k% M
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- C# j' ^) |+ _3 m: [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ x+ E" v7 J$ Y2 d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; ~5 @$ O! F# Z" v3 a8 G" Nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" Q4 ~) ~: V7 ?% s" j0 i/ E: M: H- q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ F `1 e8 ^5 i7 [1 ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) k3 G* w+ U( Q/ _
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
