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
( Z+ n2 T# `6 B, s- gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 A4 n3 L9 T$ W) F
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 ~$ A8 ^3 Y+ Z% Y3 J0 |6 O4 a. I7 F
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' i8 D/ j0 g6 i# P0 U" Y
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 Q/ M+ A0 }8 [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; }0 t+ |7 v6 D. `
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 S3 v8 |7 u. A7 D( _0 R, u
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* m' [7 R+ r2 |/ Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ V5 c7 N; h! C8 O* f3 w% M
medical schools.# k) v- Y: s' t& B3 d: [, ?
( a, j! c" k7 l4 nEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 F2 R. v9 [" K s+ T
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 p1 i# `7 j( _' m2 W
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 ], R7 f2 ?( k1 c! s: |* J8 cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 A2 s2 f: a: n. V7 }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; _$ `: D) M# R+ R2 v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 O0 d+ P) z! a9 D
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* V. C" m6 X) l' W+ \0 k, I O5 X
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" L5 B8 X: v" J0 z) H
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 n- Q& e2 L9 T9 I8 K" D7 {
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, A* G6 R) X7 E2 U- b g3 p( o
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
o7 y3 t4 C" t9 H* k7 {supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, R8 |: N, D8 p/ R9 W0 x
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- y" t5 d9 X) Z3 y+ A& v9 Z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; A8 w+ l$ @! d: ^% Y8 m
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; }/ ?- j6 J* w! @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. P. F3 m/ \6 N4 |* ^0 L' c" ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 }& |/ x/ Q" N" F8 H2 Ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 h4 [6 q `# ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* r) b% M( K0 ]; { A) Zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 p2 C/ x4 b7 K7 W, t8 n' z' P
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 _2 y! e$ r$ |. j+ e( t+ ]truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; m( J% h' D% q7 C
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- ]5 W- S! Y# f/ I! x/ ~7 s7 bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; p2 j; C) v8 p! P2 hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 V. C T6 U7 {6 t; zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
7 ~2 t" U) N) H- U1 W! X8 Wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, v2 L8 v) {' {5 K5 _ d
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 H- `( x+ ~4 B( Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 k6 X6 ], {4 @- Z. A5 @9 J7 _1 n- E: G
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 H9 H- J% T" ~7 d& k7 y+ \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* _0 r$ ~6 d# t7 u6 Kare spaces.
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8 K4 B# e5 U! {% O* EThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 R0 j# P: H* S6 K* v% n5 }
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" U" o' W0 ~# h* j+ I4 w/ @own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 f" a- A2 M1 E- e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 J& F6 q. Y9 x) e
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 I' j& \% V w& [best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 V% z+ k' X$ M, }+ z7 G8 Onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 @. u1 L( G$ x& b! W) h# zcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 p: [: ]+ X+ w' T$ Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 ~# R# w5 P) @8 o We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
