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 H. K- i0 S. o- q, ^9 U7 Bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 e6 A# X5 L, x6 ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ L/ `! V: l* [6 F
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 I2 @ s: l: s' e/ ^* c0 ?2 v7 m
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ R$ Z9 T" O x' J# k( V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( n3 h; K0 v# X5 l+ Y9 Hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ U1 Y p7 F9 l+ r
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
7 w7 k9 n n' _) m' k6 j/ }, ?to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: L7 U- V* ?/ T9 f! {# W# G& ~
medical schools. o3 V( q, U, F+ ?
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
# ^' h! Z" x* dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 Y) x! o* k, w& T) @ F7 @- Y4 F+ A
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' Z. [, m6 ~# G7 J( W6 uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. ?6 ~! ]# y9 |8 l$ ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& z8 }* d, _4 Y8 K4 |( `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% P( L& t7 ]; Q$ `8 aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 `5 P* J u; d: O" n- {: y/ F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 {7 p7 J/ ~$ D& g7 b
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some* y# q0 M7 }1 d/ h5 T& f
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 c4 S- n5 Q7 x. M( i; L& W' J
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 G2 E: I4 y, L3 T; c$ ^; m
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 h0 X& c6 h2 L1 xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 o! k+ y7 h# N1 q$ N/ O4 t% Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; ?+ F% \+ W$ U6 g, a* a( {thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 n+ F0 r" w/ M/ B2 P, nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
9 Y( T# g: J) N+ p8 w# a/ ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* f2 a! r# q# G3 yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) G9 t' h- T. @. N. z$ ^
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! G: ^ l% ~# w; y0 Ncharge the fee defined by the state.) a% @' s% m. B. N7 ~
5 A& z5 B. J1 u* P( ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, o1 ?( q' i9 t) J3 e* @: P5 g& hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) Z2 Q" W, c# w8 X9 ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* O. R; u! {4 gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ B1 D; d- @8 B5 j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 I2 u/ `8 N+ P/ T) K$ ^% Pworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! Z$ k4 t) V2 l- x( ~2 I8 d$ Lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) P' O" k' \6 A' v) H" `5 ]9 {) o
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 b0 P+ C; U1 P2 a; o4 f% jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" _4 E0 [8 O2 c0 I- whiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ x" U- V1 x7 f# ]- Q: V5 N
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) F# Y4 ]3 M9 {to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 Y/ t: t1 l6 T& {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 }- u# h4 M# W Lare spaces.* o- Q0 D' k3 X T; p! P6 z+ D) r4 g v
" U6 o8 R. k2 S3 bThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 m1 E7 d9 w2 C: P8 y2 [" r
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 `$ H. c8 m$ ~3 L! H- j
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: A8 h7 C4 t, P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: O& K1 R9 u3 h0 V: m1 I2 Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- |) P( e% L1 C% a s* D) |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- D8 w- e; v5 x" U- _, s; j, Y9 ^& v
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 |1 K0 X- K5 q5 `8 n
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# S2 }+ M( n( x( `
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ C6 ^" X1 i# ?. B We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
