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
6 j* t4 Q: U4 y3 H! s* _# l) g0 fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ ~5 b8 d+ n I) u: s
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, {( B' R0 s- C. G: z# p; x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! b' T: w7 ?/ h5 Qanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
8 l# s2 S, j; L+ v7 `# W/ o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" E {. ^7 R* x( Z8 g9 n% kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 U! I& ?) y5 G" O( K' d' w% sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ n6 C9 G4 O( a- Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- H: G: {( ^# A% v- m2 s
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
r# ^7 p* {& j' r! Z& xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, o; i. o2 F. s3 z2 k7 ?
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# ~$ v. v" f, n" |) P$ c% K, J
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* b) p' D0 R0 J2 L9 Ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* {$ R( c( j" p" W7 R7 `over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
( k/ N) k5 J4 yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 C0 o* Q. V) v. g& |2 O
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 {, m1 j$ H% Q7 Jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 c7 Z0 O9 Q- O2 Z2 E' Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 _. V- {6 o, |+ X, A5 ^
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" G! o5 T, ~& Q! T
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, ~0 V' K, l3 T: H% l: {. s
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ B C" g9 o f" _$ g; whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" I8 F( H' T0 C& H: @- Q8 m+ e. pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 D8 K8 q9 X! A) Z( S/ x; G5 |: Z6 \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( ?8 y# j7 r: T, m% u; D
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ w1 A6 d( G: F' z6 j* q( D4 o
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! H6 N! x4 a' l* Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& C% T9 Y- C* }
charge the fee defined by the state.1 V; J1 u, d4 t2 ?
* t2 O+ s& f9 PThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# x- t# d" u/ s* w+ s7 c! m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ v6 G- c- R1 }1 Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 V8 r5 F3 J& p# ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 z/ ]* @$ e- j( u( z- M9 Iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 T; w+ e% H1 F% a; g& z! }* oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ R* _9 s4 \# s$ l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. W* ] V+ @8 ~. \. M( E# [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 I4 O" \9 \/ C! g9 N1 ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# J5 g: }. ]8 u$ N8 g, t7 U* }
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' L/ ]" r! A( u
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" V* `, ^/ M+ q/ W' Pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& j. b( a9 V- q& x# O
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; Z0 Q( M" W8 _* r
are spaces.- b2 `0 j% w2 p, E% B
; L+ S: g# F$ Y! m+ F* kThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. R! g# u1 \6 F/ ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* p: T* o# p" z# S2 Y% B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ W2 R- |/ ]. b' O40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* p" ]0 C# E) K5 Z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: e0 p( P% w* y4 d3 _' a% R
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) d- V/ I9 l3 R0 {3 d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 g! s' O" [. g6 `/ {" v9 _! ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
: \+ o/ o+ N, j) {8 K! q" Q* e2 vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 B% r' S( m$ a# n4 V( x. Y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
