我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 J8 J# D, [- M$ h0 i t: K& l
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ B7 P( w9 f( L; kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: P+ Y* l3 D1 n* k" c8 {+ G. p"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* T- g0 F3 q8 [& M oanswers to our pointed questions.
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0 ^9 L) q+ G1 q4 {The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& k/ p) t) G \% U' g+ {; w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# ~) s7 F( A; W$ o
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ w/ h9 y# ^- G9 u1 [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 }$ V" Y" l/ ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 B' }8 p. |, T* m* e" |+ N8 Nmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' E. k6 v; H, j
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 K# o9 e5 P @) F, _/ ^5 z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 y7 e% `* e/ A8 d) _! W1 Vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 ^( J4 Z# k: g' qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
+ `3 x0 T; M7 x" l* [over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
9 _+ S5 ?7 y4 V4 p8 Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" g- Q0 F4 @+ y! A( d
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk U% @' d+ y5 R+ c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% G1 O7 N7 K5 Z2 D- X: }, m3 p0 W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 N) y# G' U4 _! H2 m Z' w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! K$ \ v3 b* |# [
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 }. m+ c' S, T4 w
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) l" i$ G" E3 S( Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- V4 X+ G4 X$ V7 S1 [. V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# A# q5 U6 N! i6 s) B ?0 C8 I6 G
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% S- m3 [! g, C- t1 [, [& YDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* B |* i) ]8 o/ _; wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: Q, W. P8 d* s( D
charge the fee defined by the state.4 u# k1 o9 t- W: |7 |9 G: i
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 P7 B7 ^8 j- [+ h1 mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
% [1 I3 H% C' D* {& g& eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 V2 R; v n' I# e {4 Atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 T& d7 W0 b' \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 m F4 k5 n/ g( Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 @% T- o& ], ~ ^! J7 X; \! kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- U' H2 T; @3 n; Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) |, c# u1 x; ^ A1 @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- ~6 W m) R0 mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ W, _4 x& A; V9 v% P7 m6 y, m2 d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
R& V8 d0 g V" W$ uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. _- f, D( S! n$ {2 K8 [& ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! O0 r+ D" n7 u* l. X) aare spaces.
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9 D J. r( a6 ?. wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% I% X* N5 q3 p5 N) J8 X- }to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' g* I% p) P8 L6 Down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 e5 E# l0 ?6 E8 Y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; W: j) ]( [$ ]% `' Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 k3 Z/ }, z8 Obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 L/ A$ O' H8 n* P' Hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' A. R9 u7 O4 `" m. Rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# l+ v6 |5 ]3 p kis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( v" W* i( @% s+ L( {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
