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
3 v5 v% Z" k1 _" h8 N- wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& k' k+ T) X9 Q% j, x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; c4 R- m* ?- h; N" D. |1 s2 o# @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: a( Y( `: f1 _/ N8 {answers to our pointed questions.; `9 m5 Y! a% _( d1 T
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, W& z$ n7 f l& X; ~ H9 p
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
' k, L6 i/ X* p0 {* Mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 |6 R( V5 p( r( ?+ A# U& C) {4 K- |
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ?8 A0 R+ O) M7 t- }8 {- E- \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ o3 S4 |) A9 _" [' c1 T
medical schools.4 m- s1 j8 C: p, [. {( r! X% ~/ o
3 _& M0 K8 F. X3 J) b. \Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ ~0 [& v1 c' Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: h) g1 l& Q* ?' Q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 I a/ l/ B: f- }& E# ?: s/ ?
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 x& v8 z4 }2 R4 n# f5 w- w5 Y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 k% k, G6 A+ \/ q: S9 i
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
0 S. |* C. ?1 k! D/ eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! n% A. ~) j g2 umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% x& l8 _. ~ U4 j$ Fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 y* F3 e) u" x; d8 Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 r, ]( Z2 |% W( l+ V9 l5 u- ~private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! N" A& G# F4 S7 {6 i' R& f$ _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, P; b" ?3 b, zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) D$ I$ u9 _7 D5 _5 o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% E2 ]; h$ E7 x2 ?" |$ G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ l: X! }% D6 e7 {5 q3 ?5 _' n9 J
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 ?. |3 V# [1 g, q8 u- J9 T
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- g4 H% S! @& l" j u2 F
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: p2 a, a8 j5 |5 o
charge the fee defined by the state.. J4 [& j, M4 d6 |- _8 y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 B3 [+ ?1 d j ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! _3 W, S$ w# b* [/ yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% `2 U/ P+ L, T& @" Z" Gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ ^& a- M! h4 R* [6 o w& u; ~0 Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) i; q' ?* M0 ~, s2 ^& xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. Y0 O0 O8 r4 K/ S# D+ P( T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 o, p, D! x" h; ?" P+ L6 r* N
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- X: w# v8 M0 ]: D- Q# ltrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' h0 E e6 P" V# a; Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
1 o+ i+ L5 k- \3 _3 | f9 epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ f; P5 J5 Z) G+ d, `to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 \" W8 Q; s- R6 o. G8 P" _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
_: E {5 ]$ g9 F d8 uare spaces.
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, g6 M# X; b; y% b s0 |7 yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 v M* P" o, u6 d2 tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( L4 a; Q4 H8 ~6 G, M8 i4 Oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ c5 B/ B' J: z- Q: p40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! h& |& h( h/ O2 `
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 R* O, k3 e( W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, Y- _# R6 F% `- y* K- e
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 c5 S+ `- Z5 t5 v# v6 jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 O# M) R. V* uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ N- ^. [% b1 E We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
