我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 O+ L) H3 E+ b8 y, {1 D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. T& n1 }9 }5 ?& p) zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 W, p+ D* a. a1 `! s/ R3 V+ ["George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* s( R, x, N) L y: U
answers to our pointed questions.% Z6 N# c. h0 g& \ j3 p: h. D
( X$ r& k3 x1 TThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ W4 L" _& B* e3 ]& f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 \2 D& A' n3 [3 o4 x, i4 R* C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( o% G- |! L: ^& F) Q! Gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ Y+ J; V( i! q5 I) _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! j1 l; M' B! f6 X8 ^9 j' G3 |' a
medical schools.* A9 K: f7 J( |
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" u3 c/ P; [- E* p/ @. t3 c9 D1 j
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, F& Q2 g( i" Q" a( w% Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 q# C, V( f6 massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, v# J9 {( ^* D
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( `5 \7 \' I$ K" ~& Wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; E* F9 s! [3 q, n0 K+ zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 w/ d6 S% B) ^' l$ K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; N* p' t% X/ c! vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some. m) E: @$ o: L( W6 v$ i1 B
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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3 Z5 N" W& _; V3 Z ? F- X, k: @The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! M/ Y. M+ O- z" |' \; o& l; Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, s+ }' {) y0 @! p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 A4 Y- A6 f! C% Q/ Q+ M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 K7 T* z2 y5 z: x Cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- `$ y! _: x6 o. a3 G2 J7 W" ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ w M) C+ ]: {: ?# _) @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 R& Y8 h" q; wDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 Z8 L- v- {; w1 m
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 o7 b' G4 J& f6 Lcharge the fee defined by the state.1 Z- W" U- m% q4 d
8 [* P- D& z* b0 x! }- f* OThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 y; `; r/ d* w( x. s3 g+ Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 W* d) f9 B; @6 [( o* |# p: @of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, T* I" r% @! r- f) |$ h, wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
. d4 U+ N- H1 r/ M4 eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 Q' t# @" w; |% yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
$ f3 o' o$ v6 i0 I1 Aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, k5 F2 F; j( P- b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. ]0 ]' v5 i, k$ _. s3 Q G2 ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 u, ?8 M1 _ t# _$ i$ u! Hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) A3 D$ c8 T- P+ k) Q2 Q6 ~# [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 m/ _9 z8 u7 g$ D/ _; V; u
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or s8 ~* x( B5 H$ S. A
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ b( Z6 f6 U3 \0 C7 Xare spaces.
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! S, X. ~3 c: j. L* s6 E% c% eThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! y2 i3 e- H j9 l( |* g' o; Q, U% Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# Q$ Y* K& f& e2 v0 N( B* n! b+ z# q
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 X, d6 c- Z" j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different n% C/ I, G1 y/ g: [# ~
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 f/ s' Q& j* j7 R4 xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 @7 ]9 ^+ ^0 ~" D4 [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, F1 ?1 w Q9 S! C+ p/ q2 P x3 T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ e# ?+ g' D% S! J( H8 L1 k7 ]
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- W7 _- S9 }5 O V( { P
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
