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
( o% Q c- g8 K+ j/ qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 n5 L6 {& \: g- d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ q b* ~6 J3 E i; h- R. `
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. ]: U9 r; o. }& G! Y9 X8 j( P
answers to our pointed questions.
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$ ]7 V, T" J* hThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: c8 A S- V: @ `/ C+ E45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 ?6 e% h2 z" A9 d/ z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 h( {4 Y- S2 q( y% vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% I" ]2 V7 R" @ \+ ]# a( G+ zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ d5 M0 R1 y- L8 u6 m
medical schools.
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0 k; b p3 B9 Y- g+ KEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ {: v p# o* M% s' M& u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 u ~) ^& j/ F) b4 F/ S* G8 [- I
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 X& I$ H! g, _' L5 q0 iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" t2 E/ W: |- J/ b0 {4 ~. Mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 ~! C" t$ ]* d5 a3 q2 }. s) Nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# ]; u% \. D* {3 g8 P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 T0 c$ F5 H! kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk W1 q- ]% c$ V; G9 j0 G @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 }! {, \& l8 E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" d6 O8 X% {" Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" x; p4 j+ f8 L1 l6 C; d% M9 t
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* [! k# |+ b* k9 u: U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% Z0 T( c3 w% b
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 o8 l* w( m/ }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 x) |; X) ^1 F' Q! O# \* h
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. o, N% Z, w+ K* L/ X
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 o9 f+ N4 ~3 b4 n
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 X" H" }0 i* T1 Q, ?! xcharge the fee defined by the state.& r0 ]$ `1 S; {8 f' l0 T; h
) {1 g9 h& A8 F5 k3 s: YThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. `, u# q/ y |on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 E* |% ]' ~- z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 o3 [8 s5 _( A0 N/ l6 U# `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 b) |5 r* d4 d
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 S2 v u5 N- x. F) `
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 `$ w0 Z/ R' yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 x# J I" R% Kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 k; i/ H0 u- [, l4 _trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 T8 j4 u2 F8 A9 C
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
5 m, C. D& ?2 B0 j: c6 [people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! c8 O$ ?% v( K6 M. @: E; Kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! d3 m1 u N7 p& Y0 D% b8 Sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- t3 n, q2 b, f: o9 B0 k' x( B3 kare spaces. Z8 i0 k- S3 x6 S9 W( _9 E
; t9 I1 N3 c \$ |; ]" hThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi% t; J- M) e# S8 W) F- z( B2 |
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% [& T+ t) W; f" p" s$ ^own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& W; t: V. I' e5 E( G9 a40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- X& j; e ^# l; r, r* F
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 `5 G v- W2 Q" j0 S. a/ n# k
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 V# B) Z; e. x) E2 n/ D1 p5 E
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ l5 B1 W z: C2 o2 H' A
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 H( ]: |9 b) T# m9 \# x0 [! d
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- G- _6 l" W4 B; Z+ V5 s% ~ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
