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; K* x+ r) G9 l: }6 [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" `- o% K# \. K; q7 C* gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ x1 {+ x, Y6 ^9 [0 m8 t2 }3 \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 C- z ^& d* i# Vanswers to our pointed questions.
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2 Z' i9 q) o. J% b5 |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' P0 ~9 s: b+ h+ z9 |. o1 O45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# F2 U/ j, {2 x! j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; Y0 r( ~4 G e7 G2 q4 Lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ K% O# }* M* B4 p" m# T0 Sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ M+ g5 V( H! g) I* Kmedical schools.6 m) e' l5 S+ X( s% w1 A
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: s+ Z6 ?$ c+ \# j& Qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& |9 M9 q, y U' t" B# ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ c1 I) V K; P! m8 ~
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) C& n8 _4 _2 ]; ^- c8 ?* C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 D5 [" C' ?7 A2 h( a+ H% v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 F( {/ E8 Y9 T5 m; O$ w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 p1 y4 W$ b3 y/ G1 w5 t" q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( J4 K9 O* _2 xshortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 G& F6 ^% |+ s1 l! v
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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- c0 ~$ x. \' R: V; [ gThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, O" s$ A6 Z' Y n2 T! R0 E8 ^5 Z7 S; [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 H+ d" {& p3 o, Q, O0 Vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- S$ @0 S. b( c1 Fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good; B; s' q) m( j: D
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
t) D" _, x9 s+ h9 N) a9 hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
$ Y& t4 W4 F) n% k0 v4 ~! sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( b5 e2 A4 x# Z3 b6 ~: ]: MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 B$ n; E0 I& ~! T- x% Sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
- c- j+ d; b) O. g# i% kcharge the fee defined by the state.; D" s- A$ `! _, E$ o) o, j) j/ A2 r
! x4 r8 T, c1 v5 C. I0 UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ F" g9 @0 V. [' X+ Y- son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& C. c( j8 g! O H
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
R% J0 b( @* m/ ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- `. a/ P$ G8 l: i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 M+ l7 u% I3 V0 p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: m9 C o: |0 I- l% gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. _ H+ J9 Z1 K" Y. T/ _# c1 @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ |3 ~; @) ?! X! dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. O: d! \6 s4 ^% |) ]/ a1 D0 `' y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& W$ j `6 A8 z, }" zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 j* I2 j7 N8 M$ b7 d7 A. v) n e
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; F, R2 D6 }% ?
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 ^$ M, A4 q; L; o
are spaces.
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7 Z! }- E+ L& J4 }' IThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 W+ f5 [7 |- y4 \4 M
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; @8 j. ^, L9 ~) B. w Z% S% Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ M- u6 k% U+ J' c6 G5 O9 g8 i& e40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* n0 I' e' r! y4 b) p
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, ~# Y7 w) _2 W/ j+ I# r
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few x* d, R9 ~! C8 i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 D: i, ]( l: l' b* W+ q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. n, r$ n5 g( Dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 ]" m: z9 V& F3 L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
