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
6 r/ D) \ P6 G8 `% Vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& H- y' v) L- F s$ x5 l9 `on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 k+ s; U b& K1 j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: b( V) M* L0 f5 P: p5 E5 L
answers to our pointed questions.. {# u2 y3 Z$ v- _
7 o+ |- R( ]5 P, }4 r- ^# F# S& @The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 t: P- _8 `0 l% R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ w1 H) ^6 [0 E* S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
8 w" W, P2 V# P8 p' y6 yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams Z) i8 |7 _" l# Y0 k
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 Z! X/ E+ m6 X
medical schools.: f. r$ t# J( ]' W
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ ^' |) N5 b& y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* _' Y$ e) m O4 h3 a
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 E' f8 C% B+ b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 V2 W3 q, }2 L% f% ?6 [
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 ?7 ` c% y: D/ c2 A% {
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ u) n2 O5 @$ J& J7 gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) X* G4 I. `* ~ }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, X' T: s& u& ~# ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 w9 j0 h }# {- q8 h: }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
% q; O7 Y1 b4 c4 m& Aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# h5 W& B; S: B3 X( L5 P
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 I/ v( V+ u1 T# K. L+ {* G; i& O
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' Q" t4 v4 Y- p" tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 d ]7 N/ t0 w9 {' E& M& |
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- ]8 ~, S) @5 R! Q, ^) O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) j$ T/ |! b- Y j2 ?" D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" `2 ^: G2 D/ U/ O7 a& b
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( I4 V/ x5 T% P
charge the fee defined by the state.+ J# K* S1 K+ o
- U v; W9 W8 X1 A! WThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 T K0 r- [% N& X( @0 eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& ~( @0 C4 }" j g
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# f, O% p( ?+ E1 V' P1 x) _4 rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" X/ I9 k3 K3 T5 O+ N# J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ J# c2 @ X! v _ B4 }- ]7 d# F( ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. Z9 X9 r. e8 n, G7 H; Q# a
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- N/ p$ z) H, X" @+ M. |" Dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 R4 q! o' t7 n G4 v1 F# M# Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 j6 k8 I/ S, Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% ~$ H$ s, u! V6 B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, R' {' R" c$ ~0 |- s, t8 T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. ]- Q3 F& ~* z# O; j4 P
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 {8 j* u# ^* H+ F- H* Y2 X
are spaces.
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4 t7 ?4 C& y* e; EThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 Y7 Y0 _- a# W3 i5 o9 g5 Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( S3 ], w* i! I+ a! aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% d) |: y/ f4 i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 i$ z2 f* r1 U8 lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* I$ E6 H. x, ]2 v" Ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* y5 m' i& y5 J0 y+ Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" Q! ^" v! {' j% ]+ w
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" O$ y+ `2 K# @0 ^, n; Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( n" s8 A0 ?& I2 f, F1 }# f3 L% Q
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
