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
3 q8 \. b% [6 E! cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ @3 U5 e) j; m* V8 \$ J& N5 W% Yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; `5 U2 K3 k, p1 u
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 _9 \1 d+ w) t* p9 h& ganswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 [. m6 D0 U$ o$ l, F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( ^! E7 Z9 f0 i1 }* M% l* L! U$ @! i
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) O" o/ U+ z2 gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 x$ g0 g8 j3 [3 N; }
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 K5 e) ~% e4 O9 Q- e
medical schools.; ` m5 Q# N. x$ s
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! @$ J% ]) H+ |( N: I8 x8 Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- ~, `- X+ h3 ]8 @. U" jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- `9 D- l# b3 V+ U9 r
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 e4 A& s6 U; N) m& ~+ Uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 _7 r' W% T! T5 n! q/ E6 Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! A) d; S( f! i# l% j9 useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 f& J( N* h1 p3 Z0 X {. tmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' ?0 w& T% F- o3 B! _shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( ^; d. a0 t( Y c4 {
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 U5 q* S/ J+ A) s( N4 X; y/ f Z
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 k; G0 ^2 r( K& \0 D. M; i3 {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& U: [9 W- U# U, N x7 q5 l$ G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) i, K2 d8 v9 P+ Shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& p1 _7 ?) n! i6 N% C1 w# U/ vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' \" |2 y, o1 N9 n
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 P8 |/ h& j6 R9 {$ ], k/ [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) a* ~. l4 j0 q8 K8 u6 gDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" i1 ~/ W) S1 \; N
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ h2 w: ]. ]* y6 h z8 O% @
charge the fee defined by the state., L7 @( c0 [% T! }6 m. T
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 s# k& U7 I2 ^; H+ B9 xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) M- u1 _8 K5 |- U. g" g& e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 Q# o, @9 y! Y3 Z9 G; M# w" i9 m& \
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 v& u' E- L0 T% g- Sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the L' M" X! Z, m. h+ p( C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# e s7 v9 v4 ?; J2 f9 Tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% R* [, U( A; I8 }# Syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
" z% N* C) c& I+ ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! v2 N& |* ^7 q# |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 T, A/ J+ [" @4 a$ ^6 ]+ K
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 [) V3 l/ c4 U$ M; H( mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 q2 H9 F9 z8 U7 H5 `- d0 C. i) i
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. U2 G9 G* [4 y4 q5 L
are spaces.
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1 N7 P3 n1 L/ |8 P! bThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 e% Z; M# v/ A9 v5 G7 T/ R6 Zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
0 c* j T1 i9 Q! ^! K3 r% ~7 H# vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 o/ p3 F! t0 @' @8 e+ K2 o$ ~40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 T& |1 i' X: L% v, p0 jparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ Q% L, m. X% V7 }& Lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ @! o- @0 d2 Nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 v2 S# Z4 y3 D0 r, L, \2 D
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: k0 q8 k F6 l" p7 R) l2 X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 e2 m7 b0 c- z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
