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 x8 I9 v! y$ v3 y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 s4 ~' m# d, W5 T% oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& g$ l4 o. {5 u7 s8 C3 ?
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; {8 b! n: ] Z/ Panswers to our pointed questions." M' D0 {6 u2 k+ O) L
) h, o2 ?. X4 L; Q- cThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ D7 E6 x ^# ~2 r! v
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. `7 l" F2 e; yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" k: ~4 H) I; O+ ^7 m2 q1 K+ M# q5 mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) a i% g& l2 o- ~$ J- S! tto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 t' G; g+ _. c; c1 k
medical schools.
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6 l6 h/ I; |9 ~6 DEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' w5 f, Z( {& d$ _6 o! w6 O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. W2 o& K4 [: P* t; \. U
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 [( E% l8 X- s# [# S7 b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ Z# U' ~# A3 m( V
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; N/ s6 L% [8 R7 ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# R, j3 c+ w" o5 e* Q+ C
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# Z( ~5 V3 H' Z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( g, `$ A, d- w/ @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' I# D+ Z7 ]& e# z) L$ Y2 rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 Y* k2 q( e4 ]1 e% p. K9 `
0 m* y$ K/ ?* L$ UThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* Q9 J) C! l& S; ^/ }( L3 E* {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* \3 L. R6 C+ q/ Z9 b, {- N$ `* C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, }& M9 M- w5 |( u ?, lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. y& Z3 m f8 h1 D# w; _( Q8 B; J1 Jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 P: n" y. m7 J/ C) |+ ?) q+ ?
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" h8 K) A6 b, G8 Z( rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 }3 m( o1 f4 i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ z; V( n7 J5 A$ P
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, ?" q- R, u) ]% v5 H
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 R3 y+ S4 o3 J# q' c5 m. ~% P
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ J6 `, n) Y) o7 b7 ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* Q/ L& `% v+ O, l. h
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* g$ ^1 w+ ~$ M( }) Q+ J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, Z- H. [- u8 y( f3 N, m6 O; b! jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- Q! z- J- e7 l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 h1 [( Q" u) u! W
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! X' J: m4 p& W3 _( e; K9 |0 X" ^trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ W8 ?5 \4 m" m$ c0 H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 p) I q4 k$ U- n' V4 h2 i( Wpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# h1 \5 a2 ?* H9 ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" N- c' P# T5 j: O
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ w% J* T6 x" C; _. r* l
are spaces., y+ Z- S$ f/ a3 f
; }1 Z* o1 M& w7 s/ B' J' _+ T6 f6 o; DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 q# B! | U% f ]2 ^6 j9 g8 i
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 V- [$ W1 ^, r
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 J3 ~6 F' H, d# Q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ _( S5 x9 d1 N( T ^parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ k2 ~+ [3 a O# e2 l: J" j$ Tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( R, m" h% g+ i: Q+ Q: o8 wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 s. @) ~- \% q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
r: i3 {0 Q& Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ K( n3 d! u# u7 y6 h
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
