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! s. t( }. k+ n1 J3 g: j& h5 d* E
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 O/ B5 u! Q- N. o& N
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, a9 O7 U& F, L
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: Z3 H0 a5 d; yanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: w8 x5 j* @4 V( k; D/ C
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 ~5 I7 |+ E8 @out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- H6 S' V7 T; Z/ ]) T" f9 D4 m; J
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
7 k- v& [9 s& Q+ |% E/ xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 Z- z7 P7 x5 O" H# Z/ Xmedical schools.
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) N0 u1 k0 b7 g; Q' ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 U) `7 K6 ?9 o; Y( w9 O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ K+ @! U8 w. i2 Z9 E( f3 q: k
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 U" d+ i) [* b4 G& \assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
/ s0 Z. M$ g$ C/ Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& R* v7 ?$ B, r) L2 \' h
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, i5 b- G& [8 ?/ o8 o8 O: j% N
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' w9 d' ~. \3 H: }" ^
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 v3 h( y$ a! ^& w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 H" s1 {$ O0 F9 _! P: Y: ~2 Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, O0 e7 [ } f3 p7 }3 s
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( d" S. M4 [8 ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: X8 z+ ~; |6 G6 M# F; q+ |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ _2 Y5 A6 w) S q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% h9 [) N" t( V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 V8 R, a. T% D, E; o( u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 w% }) \; L+ l5 m, K. s+ MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ N- y# E# v2 o$ K0 B- L" ?: Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) O* g; j. g* j2 v8 z! H
charge the fee defined by the state.9 L4 O: e Z$ }- W9 T* [+ i2 ?$ X
9 }3 U" \4 C$ m# n, p( D; M$ dThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 N( ? c# |& q8 |( E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 \ {* @. G. S* E4 K! H, fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* x" _( o, r) r0 c# m, M
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; R4 o) ^4 r; R/ e) y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! v! f, Y" ^5 `" ^5 }7 I9 J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 }8 v( q' w* p/ vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 D. H$ J" U: i* g
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 R4 C+ w3 {$ [$ O6 B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# h0 | I( {1 L3 e& rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 j; {: r; q+ l* \
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* h8 _5 O& }- `! I; J" j
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& `3 I3 @! K: h; t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' s5 C4 _9 T9 A& G* V. _) n1 n
are spaces." P2 s* H, c% o T4 u& J
$ y# O) g ^/ h2 ^& lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& J* q# u) g4 _to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" P1 z6 A; A [& t/ {own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# r& N# i# C4 P& N7 \( u1 a) @ }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 X0 Y( Q4 c+ H7 c- j# R5 l/ hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, M- L: ?$ a- H3 Cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; r: E& h: D; y1 `$ l2 S/ fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 Y8 E- q9 Q' m) K2 D9 z% ^
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* _; j) b# p! W/ B% U( `. Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." G9 O& ~6 l1 G% p. s4 |
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
