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 s# ?$ ?, Z& C( {standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' F" F! ~* ]& V9 _5 u9 G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 m5 c. p& N9 m' o0 B3 s" B# w
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! H* g; I8 d8 j& a8 q3 S" W
answers to our pointed questions.( L1 l: z* s: E
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# E) n: U# t7 s. I
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. \* ]( @" V6 K5 j6 P' |) l/ X9 vout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( R( y3 N' H! _' f( d# _% F
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 |( u4 ^, x! {3 U. B- |to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( B+ K k% x+ w1 z* k: V
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 T! y0 r* m( L' x# w$ u) Y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 I+ q- b' p& u; R* S
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ U- S9 E0 N' {4 Z9 x6 c/ `/ Q) h, Fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& O6 G! ~4 c# d( F/ b
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% E2 I4 R% p; _. \+ P
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 _2 d2 i# P0 z" nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( K" c! c2 i& b: g2 J# l& _
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: N: e' q; k( R. Z. ]) lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 u2 q( d. t( c. }2 `7 T( ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: f* C {7 X$ ]$ Z$ k, ^( C
; |) N, ~ B |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no: o, M, e9 v' [* r$ P6 K0 }1 |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ d% ?; {2 o5 D' j2 H# O
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ D1 |7 ^6 B- M! Q" r0 t; t
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# k; V8 H$ i3 o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 g+ ~2 \0 Z+ W2 Y" B
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' l3 B- p6 u6 l4 D
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 A' e g) q5 e( \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& [6 n( P4 _1 u' n W6 n
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. b% k. N/ r5 z } p
charge the fee defined by the state./ j8 W/ ~ N+ F' ^
4 ]. l7 K' v, PThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ S- |2 c. q) p1 D9 M- E/ n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 N9 q: t1 n# |- ]6 J9 Q' q% ^7 Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* Q* ~, k9 n; g3 z* k q. ?' Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. _# a$ D# S: l! U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 x1 [ U/ {7 k( a/ a9 h* F. Rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ d6 Q& g t# B1 |
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; O- C& o& E1 N p7 x/ B$ i# z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: t( Q! I' O. m4 Z+ k- `' btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* F% [, g! _" Q5 X ]( d
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% k4 }) T- c: T) ]2 k/ Z4 `, Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want/ }# O+ y r) Y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 Q5 N$ V. @0 l- t+ g7 G/ w) Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: v' V2 W( Y8 l" P* f+ \2 Z* zare spaces.) N$ H' z* \# F& q( _
* P) H' w7 j E7 u4 R8 [. iThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 e$ t: F: K s* Cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% z9 [( y3 F3 x2 U' Down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) A( R) I' }" t% Z$ d) \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ |/ [7 e9 |7 q7 y% A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& D- l1 X5 ?8 r" ?! b* kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 v5 J7 i2 M. E' R; A7 {nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# d) I% G9 S4 D. b3 ^3 xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 U' Q' \5 v5 y' Lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- m X* Y; c6 L4 K+ q! J
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
