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* n5 B3 l3 x. z8 d, u" S8 r
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went5 f; l5 {& V7 [; {! a. q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
* `/ t( I% c9 ^9 _, p5 D6 `/ f; C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( k( Q+ @' a! L9 y( Xanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, C/ I, e1 M% f W
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ n( o. a/ t9 |3 N1 X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, b, u( j) V: Q1 O/ T1 ^% l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 _. u) ?$ V$ c+ t u& M% Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 S3 J7 @% ~- C2 T
medical schools.
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0 X+ d" |$ X5 f yEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 h. p. b# L) h" h |3 f
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants( t5 \9 z |$ @0 W b% P
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; v( P5 c; X5 I9 l& L8 Y0 e# xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' d0 I$ {. o* }7 c9 n O$ u; R& x
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" K6 ^& S$ q* |1 v$ ~! K4 s' \
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' M3 x8 b$ ~, _, ?7 {8 R) E
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% l1 P+ _$ J8 Y i, M$ c% a$ wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* @% W% Z) z5 F9 t2 k3 X% Nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some, c- _& M) d, H
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; s. L2 H% c8 x' m5 O1 E
7 H2 C/ ~# Y( C3 Y; ^, qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 j* |; p, e$ @ ^
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 w0 j; w3 u' rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ j! I: k3 o9 C' B4 }/ f6 k
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* c# N3 R. @; k* W0 f! \" [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( U. e& h6 Y) t+ L& R* n! csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high @' t; |" L) u7 e. G0 ~# c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ }# P, ?: R3 y$ pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* }, _" I2 \( j( fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 w$ [: {5 R/ Y, }1 G' Kcharge the fee defined by the state.; v' V% }4 Y0 h; `6 H' f
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# T# S& @2 V2 A* B9 V! D; T3 R; n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
% o" v! E* U9 r7 U3 m2 y% y, x* }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; J b3 ~1 P$ b1 C
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 ]+ D6 A" ]* n8 Q7 I
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 M; c& U3 u X& _* iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( [! X1 }. k* I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( i. G; x/ O d% ^0 Pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* x4 U( `( O0 W4 n/ t' {0 `( }trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 n' J4 F0 ? ^9 M5 uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- |) F) c5 e2 e, Q" p, P, Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( _: Z) F0 _& dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# q& X8 u2 q9 C5 _) }, }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 A' ~' T0 N' x. w4 i
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ {/ Q+ c( D& D0 S3 s: k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- `& M- }+ Q0 d$ h7 h3 r) w; p( A, Aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 Y* m; Z C. P' }, u$ U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 [& f2 O/ H _5 ~$ |
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ ~; M p- ]8 `+ j- J) _, K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
0 t/ p9 C. V) ]9 f- |+ Mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& t9 k+ n7 B" b- ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ i+ b" C$ X# [/ a1 ^6 n* D. O% _ W
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 K8 u, l1 I G; G5 P; L
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
