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" v6 `5 a& z% z9 u7 N6 t( ~
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( _( J, I; u& m# Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% l$ V$ Z) z, x; z6 O9 J6 r4 q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& @) m6 C4 k1 s' N0 D3 j/ x d0 janswers to our pointed questions.: K" z! C) D/ g1 z1 {- E) Q' b% }
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; ^ e6 M; \& x" K1 y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, F a- X8 U+ W- @7 \% s( yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 z1 ?; ]6 _5 @( q- y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ v$ k) X6 |# v. o0 m; W* i
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. s2 f: E4 W$ e# E9 f. w4 ymedical schools. K% k5 H# z. E
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' }7 Z: |5 B, K' O9 Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# t0 H5 R7 r3 ]# }9 zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 E) |9 [) g, |) G. [ W8 E
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 }9 a4 x) J8 D- Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
+ ]/ D, j5 U& r) @: bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
9 B+ h) S5 e8 _7 \9 bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: A- M2 T/ p) b" M. B9 p0 |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 D) A& D+ L/ Hshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( @3 O ^, U, H$ e: E \4 a+ l9 Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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* O. |& V# l: c& f% y( `" R) ~# uThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, y6 w( z/ g+ F4 Vprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, D8 x& v3 R( ~
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- q0 [, O/ F5 ~* K# e/ a- \
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ h% \. H3 C+ B# a/ A: r* Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 \% z: h3 B3 W3 A5 k
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
$ J3 |; X8 ^, ] r+ r2 N1 H) edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% X2 j' b. B$ X G0 q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. R) k2 s* e8 {" I( xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 E! W# i9 X) [: W8 g- ]charge the fee defined by the state.1 R3 _1 e$ `& u% K3 c: ^' `
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 l7 q _$ `" a& {, non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 P+ R6 a- l3 Y- @9 j: r
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& p9 t* H: k, m9 f7 P. E2 h/ ]
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
& Y" ^% F+ q( v7 Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 Y" l" c! B" n- J2 o8 r
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
o( c0 U& {3 d) q8 ~6 D4 tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' `+ L0 m3 C* u2 q: Oyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 y0 ]# Y: b- z- @/ |! F: a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% n* p7 M x! `; l+ S- u* M
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: I& _( d. Q/ W$ {) t; b3 a
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( [# U6 q5 S4 {) S5 Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) I$ d' `6 y/ a
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( D, C8 @ z1 K+ t/ p9 I; ~
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; a( H n" P! l8 [) C
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( z9 g& k# u& a* E# h. b1 e6 Y4 P+ @
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 f' }7 n6 Z& r; e40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# Q9 m+ J) F- i' B. J. m
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- s* [3 `& @4 Ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 W' r K; B% q4 F' pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ R; z1 Q; l" z+ n& T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" G7 O; M2 [" W$ l5 e: mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 k$ v- Q/ q$ Z- x5 T
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
