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, \$ b$ m1 _, e% v$ c2 M- V
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. C0 e! R0 f9 V H& b: Z5 Kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" i+ I( Q, A! X"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, I8 ?& P3 d& f \' Vanswers to our pointed questions.
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) o) x' Z- N: q+ V9 \The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 H6 `* `% O3 k2 w0 |) |* P3 z0 z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. u: ~ `! Z/ ^/ E( Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
# g! H& D+ i9 nfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! A7 H! ]# m" ]& n, D- m4 Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" y9 Q4 L `% w% I4 Z; }! z8 Smedical schools.
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7 r4 A0 O# g/ N6 G% G- t0 r+ ]2 lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# B( {8 D0 x+ v: A% ^
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" \. `# V. [$ K3 {to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* K1 E9 c: x% x+ k2 [- O. A9 v8 `assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 F1 Q5 O, W: M: n: i) Z! W
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) t* i( C) @: O: y" M6 Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 t. T) j# f6 B; j+ {9 kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 M8 x* ^+ B3 a4 p4 P" p+ @3 a
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 j8 E) B: @: E5 tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 n% l3 I+ x: f' ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 r8 I7 p1 i/ F6 c( Q0 M
8 s1 I0 }" N0 p) e% S+ c9 kThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) }1 e6 d. d) n0 a9 m' U: g& T
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 L& v3 C, G/ M- w& r' @! ^: {% Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# n9 j/ r @7 P2 Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 t$ }, i& o) R7 ~( r# P
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 L3 K8 J+ j0 @, x Zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 g/ I3 o$ {8 M R6 ^- _& r
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- y9 y% k% Q. b3 h& h" \
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 G. i& W1 E n6 _# n1 [
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% l& `- `1 ?- bcharge the fee defined by the state.) Q2 l' }) f. v1 p2 f9 B- r
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 G5 E. f/ W5 X0 ^2 A$ Y/ a8 [/ ^' N6 \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 C5 }/ k4 ~" {; q) _
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- \6 p9 |4 l' H) _8 ]1 utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 n9 O/ F3 p! `) V# c6 |
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 d% L! K# e( Oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 r4 k$ { L" x8 A1 S7 I$ y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! R y! u, n7 h( V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 c9 D( A- _: ]) {3 b x) \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ h' q9 K2 N& r+ S3 p) m& V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: {" i( }; Q9 }* u
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 q6 @0 @3 x; Z$ p$ ^6 ~0 F
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 ~. M8 A+ B0 j. G! i# U# }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) f5 X, V @+ O& b! @are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. {+ `$ V" v, i7 e% Wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ n( }1 D; H1 }2 A' y8 d
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ @9 W |4 A: l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different P p( `" s( [/ d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 O/ _5 ]! }1 u8 {& t5 Q9 a
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ G4 V' s- [/ k- @4 [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 G7 v4 h7 N1 S& c4 _6 s6 {, Y S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
4 f, q2 G, G' s$ J" yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ G$ R# R/ T6 I5 U We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
