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; S5 L+ k) Z3 H0 q8 D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! m/ }. A) V n
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ ]! T) D' y& J6 m- h* f"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! j: p9 e3 G! A+ Y% x
answers to our pointed questions.
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7 i [0 O6 E2 t$ H# RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 \9 z1 K& l; }45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 J9 X. X1 m+ a$ O# S. L4 ~
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 j' r: Y1 D8 J- i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
S& _1 \- I5 O6 L8 u, Lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 K1 l6 k9 \ Y$ U3 J; y! B: ?0 t
medical schools.. `( s8 H0 N0 o0 V0 p/ M/ Z, ]; I
; ~+ @( S& k) S1 O. `$ B1 n1 r" e% g% AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& D6 f7 i$ A; i% B( D! B' d0 Q Lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% {, J8 L2 s/ e" y- K! V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* e$ s; C$ T0 A$ J) P0 Q+ O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ j' S9 N3 o( S6 t$ eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, L( b! b/ _+ `over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ h* x# @6 m1 C* \+ z, Z$ }
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 x. l: F- }% y, w" y. x' v* [/ \
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ v8 T: ]) b. ?4 X" u9 Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ R. G7 T" p6 p8 v) u( xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# U+ C" R- p% W8 g3 p jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 d0 v/ j, p3 b( v( v x
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ P7 o9 _: ]3 w: K, Ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" I& k1 j3 M1 W& z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 r! [% G- X! i8 X/ n2 Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& L4 H7 B" Q$ z" o7 J+ Y/ \9 W
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. I: M7 p# f- ^2 g2 } \
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: E W' e9 r' p, y- v* ]
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 `' d& _ P# u: q/ D+ Q% ^charge the fee defined by the state.( ^# F6 ]8 K! `0 Y* u& w/ m2 J
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' ?" E4 x' R2 \( [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ y% j& A# E8 A+ w+ T7 Jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! u2 P' J9 ^* v1 c: g2 D5 Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
u2 M/ T& M- j% o& X3 Mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 X5 o- i9 l4 S0 `, B# L
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 u* h% B7 G% J" Cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) G9 h* i a* N% F; k
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; H5 O, K) N# P0 E! @
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) `( O# T& K# E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; c8 g3 U! Q% f. Q/ ^, ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' u& X/ v4 q- L* gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ N: p* K* t+ G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* w% Z* J( R F$ f( Y7 ~1 p
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) ~ D. D* }" o5 q2 y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ ~$ @' h1 a7 V+ q# L5 X% N
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 t4 }) D7 \5 Q0 Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 x ]9 X5 E+ i8 }, [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( U6 m; V) {! A* f/ q5 Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( r( K: o, W2 ^. W* a9 O; `
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 B# q8 y. ]+ p2 U; p2 r$ i1 \7 @" n
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 t1 T3 x0 z; Z8 M4 Bis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ k+ R* d# x9 M8 d+ L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
