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
, ]- U z" C( F% v$ Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, `$ G7 K4 g4 `( I6 e# ^1 |: q4 M1 Y0 Ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 m- o+ e8 G% x. o" L
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. g$ o7 ?8 c, ]* G$ Y! ^: W' F# ]
answers to our pointed questions.* V) M0 h8 k( j8 ^
! _. |: V, V. wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ U, `; `( {; ]7 o' s. o( [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( k9 |5 z x+ k2 J
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 k/ C6 ]; l* ]* H( N% w! {( dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; J) k+ {" j5 s# @- \" Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
4 u& [! w E5 _' lmedical schools.7 l. F- I2 F6 x
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 J* A* ^( ~6 N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, S# B7 X( ~! y$ R9 ~. f
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) Q8 _/ u+ B, h6 }assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& e. Y# i) t/ ?; J2 V7 D+ S$ Uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& n- ]' W! v5 v+ B2 D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ y! z, T3 s7 B2 y3 \" V! q8 I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# w0 A3 @0 p) p, P9 Rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. {' m8 v5 |1 X% E5 ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% x/ x$ r* q& e p4 o$ D$ w1 H osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, t. h6 {1 d, @4 u" P
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% r1 i* V$ i5 w# ^* Q; K$ Wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 G6 v" d% @8 Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 I# ^* r1 @% B* N a5 z0 _. ~% vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 ]& I# b+ k/ x- S# csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 D, A+ M' e/ d* M9 K7 Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* w; \: B4 W ]9 e5 z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) w ]4 D& N% O# B" T! [9 ]$ pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 p0 I! t- g# V0 k3 m
charge the fee defined by the state. Q7 M% m4 [4 S4 u- |) k1 W
4 V% A! A# M4 H% K4 G5 xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: V: i0 j1 o' w) H% i( e2 E; N' E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 R' D2 F( C5 ]4 P) _1 g6 uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; n6 k- \) ~5 m5 [3 u. W: T Gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 @ _5 _. w2 v3 A( [9 J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: V$ G3 Z; ?/ [+ d. o/ nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* E4 _- Q1 \. W8 K3 x8 J5 l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- n h1 @6 T# |( z: s1 z0 e$ g dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
5 n' B6 u1 B A5 g9 itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ ?6 U( y* X( x5 o# Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, r9 a) t+ ]: V7 |
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 M( i$ S, Y$ G3 ?3 d6 kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 |6 n& C2 _2 z9 H. S9 b: [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ }, |, x, I, d5 p
are spaces.- r& d" p& f" r w
& _: A9 G7 o. ~$ {7 ?There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
M3 z5 e/ a6 F& x0 }; A( [! ]to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" z) h- B$ S6 l9 r' U) D2 t gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% B& w1 g" x8 y2 g% Y! T; `40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! f! |" j8 i# S8 y, {, z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" v; x7 R ^# r r( v% Hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ n9 O( J' C% g2 t! S# l
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% D3 }2 J+ V0 [; R8 H' `car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 U) E9 n# b. Y2 C. l8 H2 Sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- h5 t5 `2 b1 @( H( U
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
