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& k9 X$ t: n- c3 Y# o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 X3 k- |/ k! Y5 X% I$ m0 \
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 \/ @ k$ A$ w( n# D0 Q; r"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& I( U! c! c$ D7 Q1 Y/ m0 O. f5 canswers to our pointed questions.5 z0 H4 o3 {# z* _0 c
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 i9 T% c/ q$ m45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: d0 Z6 S% G" p1 d( p5 Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% V( o. e H3 E8 U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 R; g7 S% `1 u6 t0 K& ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are c" D/ {8 X, u% u" o
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& ?# s; ~8 I( Q) Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* g L) \/ T! p& Z- N4 `0 a7 @5 \to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, z2 L! o! G6 Q- e3 v% c
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( F4 s p8 k, e$ m! D
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 E8 B; w. M" Z% R3 G* x" k0 j
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& T6 G; U: i! v' F, V1 b
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% |( h$ ~) A% Q7 h. b& [7 Dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 i$ {2 ~ o- P+ G( bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 R+ I$ U b" j; A8 H1 {) O
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 I3 |% h' _3 G9 L+ N' T$ y3 g
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# x% A6 Z" N8 X! y# |3 t6 A" a
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* V4 M; x% }2 e- Zsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' [$ X. N9 _- a/ s ~. \9 F5 M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
9 b" r0 M+ I2 r# Bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 A! j- m) Y W4 f% c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 Y3 _ t1 ^3 y4 Y% o" Vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 l/ T+ l6 ^. G9 z: B6 G. T1 m8 g) cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, ?/ m+ H4 c* {- `9 p
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 T3 Z% x# S Q7 x {. o
charge the fee defined by the state.
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; R- e3 K0 I& p2 j1 @There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. @( G( Z- s) O3 }on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) F# [& M4 a6 b# i1 [$ n/ }" s* k
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 h1 m+ X3 V/ ]+ ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( U9 t2 |7 d' ^" V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 L% P+ A3 L. ` o8 {) I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( L" G; {& Y2 E3 H5 o
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) G" H8 W1 ^- f2 u0 P0 v+ s, Y& A, Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( f1 j0 e3 Q, U( \7 z8 |. |5 Rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 _& ^+ L* }! C) Y# ~# Khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 F! ~, A8 e* {, h
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* a/ l% ~/ M* ~/ q# d) Qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! p* v1 v* B$ f8 ]: L
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; r" N; ~5 ]% x) Q
are spaces.
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- [/ L \# P5 P- t9 x3 J' dThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' N. n9 ~' y! D+ R: {! S/ f, [3 Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) L4 l, J8 n0 A/ Cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# D5 ~. e2 N, C
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 y" V7 [) c" ?& b1 e. f$ F$ K
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, @' E5 x) b' G% K! x' A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ Z: K) f. A' j
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ q& R) l) s7 m6 N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ a, ~( h% V6 ~( Q/ Bis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- ~! I- ^# r: |
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
