我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 r1 q# v) B( o1 ^) {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ y$ J4 w/ |6 A8 `on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 u- m L- l6 v3 ^* k# ^
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 g" a9 b& \ \* a, F( Vanswers to our pointed questions.6 N1 M- k7 |- R) D+ t/ x9 ~. g
6 ~; M0 a, N* }2 Q) ^/ Z1 _# @* P! c3 FThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ G5 I, B5 J6 ~
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% I! o' A4 @) B- D$ r; o$ `
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# N: O8 y+ [; Z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 b9 _( s1 Y+ E; \2 B, V0 T ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" e8 p r9 {1 M) p& `4 N1 s
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; o( C" o- v9 `7 o R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# F3 N- F/ s: l) |' v" L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) E- r" |/ K5 P, ^assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# x: \& E8 S% f1 k+ C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ b9 j0 f3 }! |( n o t
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 ]: a, ]3 j1 q1 [
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 } l7 B: _! ]6 rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 i' z. I4 `' U$ \& s
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# q- \! W; P! F. R; |- a& U
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* M" {6 D; f! L G4 g
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 [% z) w, L2 M' @6 m- ^# D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 ^8 R b/ ?! Q0 Z8 q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& E; [0 ?1 P8 N2 M0 y, o
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 M" B% _( u; d- W6 k* s
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 p" o6 L1 Q+ @2 {" Y2 {6 K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 Z* B; A% S( k, e5 n5 [7 {divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" f0 ~; f3 ?; R( f7 |' [& tDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
$ t# I/ Q, v- X: v) v* Oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
$ {3 A6 W$ _2 Pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' Y1 T/ ?" C8 C" o% ^6 n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 r+ y. h5 n2 ]# u# {& dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 ~+ ?' z0 V4 P+ p0 F
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( \0 v5 M) U1 I5 ]. H$ Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" ^& U- l/ ^4 x% Y+ A P$ k5 W
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 r$ J }1 q) x; d6 q# S) Z% V
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
/ k, I9 k; ]( A4 f3 O J# ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 S4 ?: W: j8 |: G
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: U" h4 y' X* Zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( V; |9 h& M3 @% p6 B8 q# \! ]3 ?2 U
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 a0 j2 B6 ~1 L1 T Rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
G1 R* I! p z" q J' I% @. d* F- dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
0 L) ^0 E7 ]- _) D- Pare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ ~# Y9 n7 B5 Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 U% w' s4 E9 L Y/ p
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 T, n K: o3 A. L0 F' {
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! C+ s5 t' }" L" B7 `: s
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ |, n( u# @; v8 `) L- K5 i: o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; r; s$ z4 H, e- d8 D3 g4 Bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# H* O$ c, M B9 W. tcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* E" F' \8 l* q1 V' Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. o' L0 ^0 c4 n" G; @3 u, } We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
