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
' T$ }# B. a* W5 k; Gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 R* w2 D4 v: d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' N6 L9 e3 _6 W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 h# e+ A5 Y! ?6 V
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 s [1 Y& O( y3 |5 X) Z* [$ Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 `- F8 f5 a1 ^* Z. [out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% H! M! v3 Y3 u# f' r; l% Q# t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 q8 C- i2 a- Q8 @to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& X0 T3 j4 {& ^5 }. J% u M6 |
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 H$ t- q2 @, N; o
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; f! b& m" }8 H0 H; r a8 Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! l6 y' k3 G+ y# y& p3 N2 z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, ^$ w% P# T: Z' {3 o: N. e, b( Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# m& ~4 h, G i7 pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 R9 c9 E$ j5 b7 ^$ t4 I3 x0 o; hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; Z; N9 O8 L) Z8 T; `8 S6 zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ F7 p2 [5 Q; l; o& v8 ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! O% b3 @* j# l, }. Z8 zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, k8 n; Q; k; _+ V6 N1 p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 J5 c5 n2 _/ q; J( J
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" y1 X$ i$ Q$ f; v7 N- A0 {have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ \; q2 x& d) }- q8 E. m' |
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' J3 T: L3 d: F$ psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 a1 E0 j0 m: \& t/ s( `3 |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' U3 K* U& i3 B( E: CDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When s; X$ }# |9 q% x/ ?( i
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ S! e8 S8 K$ G
charge the fee defined by the state.
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1 ]6 \" _0 G& R' A3 F; BThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, K% a/ X' m" D
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" |" u/ H4 i+ W8 Fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. v1 K4 s% A# e% I3 m* m
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 b" K2 f8 L; R* lseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! [5 I& ]; g/ N% M* k- M" N- nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
$ ?' H' _3 U; ~! j) [' v: Ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; E# t& @$ y) J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people G) W X# G& H# Z( o
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" \' q6 u6 p7 Y/ C" b5 @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; a. ~5 p6 ?% Z2 u& H& Apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: k9 K) X& h. D% [to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ a+ c: }: `0 G( w I$ Q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) }) M7 T. S+ g* I" o6 u2 r
are spaces." p5 _) H% ^5 p x
" ~4 f) e B0 L, [$ C8 R0 |& LThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; S' E Z) p$ A6 J" eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# g! q' S) Q1 l! X2 r& M/ l- gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ P' ~; Q j, f- u; Z2 S' U0 T
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. c& C- [. n4 @' _parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the H6 l( ]$ ~/ s; g- L- V2 S3 y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 W. D0 ~: D" C P E, u
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 t% B1 n: M" f% {6 R. U
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; Z4 \+ |$ h/ x7 Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( _ f L! Y7 k" f" w8 Q! c# n We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
