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
) X" K2 x% z. \: R) r7 R( qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
! p% ^* H: \, _. ^on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, N0 G' S: R. a; @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( z( U+ O2 i+ K- S
answers to our pointed questions.$ U1 {: i! _- q
( q+ x F* ?$ y$ \The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 |% G0 o" ~4 h0 k4 r& j2 u& d! u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 [) u) M: u3 W" m5 ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, |, U) K* M Q( ]# f/ N; g
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 s, D2 N3 Y& X" r5 ~, ]
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ v' k, m$ |8 V4 u
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 n7 j5 v6 E/ cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! l: U- ]" }4 E, U% Pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% \8 `) K- ~2 z5 Q, l! h; y5 t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* f/ n4 X3 m6 P& ~* Ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' h6 j9 w ~1 }! ^- c
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! i' A/ x: y. p! M
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
@8 a' I7 Z: z% i( ~" Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 O$ P: o% ?7 n5 T$ W
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; W3 q; f3 W$ ~- ?+ h
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 E1 W3 [( }% v/ `9 P$ uThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 k+ ~4 A- k( g' s; m; z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# E1 g, y3 T' f+ A( Y/ K; d, F
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 s( T" o7 \, F% s' ~. l/ k
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 u! f: ?9 p4 E$ h; n
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" J7 ^, E. E- a! y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 L8 Z' c. v! v' Q6 h8 S" u! g* \9 o: `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 j/ v5 \" y5 U3 ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
E! E) u9 F! j1 c) ~. f3 Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ z- _# ^4 o" F5 C$ H6 bcharge the fee defined by the state.- Q$ n9 U8 @4 s [
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ c; q+ ^# B' f `' ]# U, l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 }. {' |8 y* R% E d
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# t% v" K6 M+ m& o4 k5 {9 P% i2 W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( |1 n C7 d- O( c5 r, l! wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" Y }, u- G* v6 t) {
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( @5 Z$ g, t8 b, o0 Z2 D& Bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! H) ~& b3 v8 q6 g
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 l7 N: ?( e D; q) p- a" Ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; h% z. o6 L( O, ~' ]' V, A9 Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; Q) o, t1 }- a8 p# o% rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ r' N. k- W% j- C; z8 G* N; nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 _! W c0 {' ^' e
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, `8 [, h$ y [ O) s% kare spaces.
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5 C2 W. M' w$ T: H( N; h/ W0 WThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 O7 x$ {9 X2 X
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- F& V3 A1 |& e' N' O
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 H# T! h4 A7 X) r1 h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 n( ~6 N% S1 p7 [5 U) oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 N }( u2 ~! Z1 N! W! U U3 P4 c
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) q! U/ I- j+ r1 ?" pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( }0 E5 \( D% w8 m8 {$ S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it8 Z b) J$ q. d, u+ @3 j2 }% g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! m( T# Y2 V( _8 ]9 | `! [$ f
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
