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; M4 [$ b( v) c* Q1 V9 V+ x, o5 D1 Q& S
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 |; t4 z$ \ A. J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 ], G- \& p, Y1 r"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 |/ e2 Q( O3 S0 h. L1 Z( l
answers to our pointed questions.
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; R( P, [5 m& NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 G( x2 ?+ d4 D9 _. ]0 O$ n45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& q" ?7 B3 v1 d/ i q; P
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& r. z; c) K& s! p# {free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 ^' E: x/ Q8 m2 K
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: |' H& s9 `; _( N6 }4 J) x Z
medical schools.- B4 r% \8 i- d' X- Z
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
4 c8 l5 f* v- }, k3 ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. I: t. n8 ^, Z# E# {3 o
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ H, S4 \( i9 `% y- C
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( h' B. y. \& A' @is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 `6 I7 B4 X& p6 p1 v+ B$ eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 P) D! E" y( w. `! x& ^& l6 q Bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& c' d$ }$ v( |7 `; [8 M, D- a5 zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) D) Q' ]% d! {shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 F7 r0 V+ d% W/ ~# K5 O
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) |8 S+ h' d8 a: U
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 h* p" v) |0 bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( }7 r2 O1 p% N8 n
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- N# Z; f3 G; X8 O# ]
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% G: [, o U7 [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( Q4 _" N4 \1 H
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' W, V0 U( N, U5 R& P+ _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: ?0 k5 N" _. p6 @0 @ W+ [. aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# v- f8 L2 _& R Q- L: @3 D
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 L9 P4 t1 q0 H* O. {: K8 zcharge the fee defined by the state.& S$ G i6 g5 p4 ^9 b% H3 o% c4 F
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" j$ A6 T. E# d$ U: K
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type8 P6 r& s) R( _& M( N# _
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 C) B* t% E2 f6 {3 htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 W0 L8 m2 q: @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& O% D& ^ S% n/ W. I' Kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 d3 F9 v9 ^0 s' A- G+ h
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) M' {0 k* r2 p8 eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. o' I2 g8 A! I2 Jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# A( s. K* N/ q( mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 C" G- ^, T C8 qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) W+ L. u# a( d, `0 J* V# mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; ^' D! k; z2 L$ B* y1 m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
" t5 i; ~1 i5 H+ s8 nare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. H' {+ \" J g7 pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ i* B9 Y4 d! g) H* X5 J7 lown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 K6 q' Y# B/ E0 J. S4 K40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
2 B' o( p" o1 y8 x2 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& p/ v7 `1 D3 e% s, ~2 Sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) s, ~% ~6 `, x g. Vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 Q" \' P9 ~+ H1 Z: W, M0 ~3 F4 v
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% l0 Q; z( L. h& a
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- v- L8 W# @$ k- j8 M- a, B) e We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
