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( o2 U' c3 G+ \8 R
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 n8 o" H8 e6 A0 non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 ~+ l* s" F% p; J" [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ W, `5 E8 X7 j2 a1 f: f7 i
answers to our pointed questions.5 N8 M0 ^- C# F$ f# p
$ j" `+ o+ C; e' qThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
a0 J; k! ]7 M/ c% x45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 d5 f8 O. [& z6 o
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 ?4 V O$ C# d+ ]! p- p) v* ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. y- L# u) _. w. @
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ e2 _- _/ t5 [7 mmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 p/ ]# w* @ p; T P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- S @( T) l: m& T' R; m3 V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 C0 E& p, s$ M6 c* V! x0 k4 a0 q' D
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ ]- _+ R! B4 }+ C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( F# H a( B. n, |2 p
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. L0 h1 ?% g/ M6 [% Y1 P7 ~# k" @
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 z" O; G8 Z; @) V' I8 m+ ]mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 D3 H& m$ y6 `2 oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# x; x: l3 |/ \9 @# }sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( i4 @' Y5 Y/ z4 C4 m+ B1 Z. e2 t
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 u7 T1 L0 M) U: u6 T5 n. `/ G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and0 U9 Z! [2 M; r" [: X( [
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' @7 G) o( N( q! O! G! x# ?
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* n p$ o1 t/ A! M m( L
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( p) t# c& f0 `4 _' ~ L) l
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 U# h, w8 X6 G3 V4 ]# v
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
4 r" E0 K2 q% `3 f5 i8 pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When `& `0 M% X* f$ V5 l- y5 e
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" W& u. x# v9 e i# I
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* A( L8 ~4 K: m+ kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
2 o# x' s0 ~# Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ J8 a" z( R6 Z3 a' D+ g& q8 \
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( v5 W2 |$ {! w1 j* E7 Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- [% _4 u5 F2 f) Y- _
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
$ J) }* @9 h* Q9 N8 i( [. Z1 eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- W, O6 @9 J% e# ]) j
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( a7 }4 h' e$ i( D( P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
+ h. M# E2 f" f! W" j# uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& D8 D+ j1 Z4 |1 k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 _* N) V: Y1 P& q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) `6 F4 m @, C* s0 L9 ]buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there U9 U' t4 E$ Y( l" P" s6 i
are spaces.8 ]) n" n( N+ \5 S. D* M3 a' g- e
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 l: o4 c: J, B" l% y0 X
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
* l4 v* R& z- c7 \1 U F+ ^; C) o' C! Oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 z9 F8 N% a, u7 g) b+ @
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ Q2 m2 F( _; h& a" H# ~parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 J8 B5 r3 Q( m# Tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# j8 a, T3 O6 O: d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 w4 ?2 T; o3 d* I7 Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* ~: J5 k# V6 S' C& w4 t3 c! K. u% Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 F# G: K; V" c# Q' y6 i We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
