我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 [2 O M- W8 R- E
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
Q7 \- Q0 u! E; R, c, non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: h$ R' N* b# q8 n5 Z* l* u0 a"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% q4 ^. u( Q% ]- T M# a% K5 zanswers to our pointed questions.' @$ Z O$ q. K: Z! ?
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# g1 C9 ~: S& U; o0 B+ T- B+ _45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: t, C5 Q. ^9 W+ R5 e$ F S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( N" n7 v9 s) k* yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 I8 z r1 d2 X0 X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! O: j4 a' p0 }
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ I9 o' e; V" ?' ~0 I3 R* d$ R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 i: u8 V7 k& zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( X& b9 }: A# l6 L$ ?assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
/ ^3 _, M% U' u) c/ N- Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! p' }* a1 u# X' i% Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ Z8 F" O+ \3 o! n8 x5 K- l" V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 |1 P- ?) c' y/ H0 wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk E+ \" O. t9 T$ P
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' C: u7 U8 ^: r& F1 T$ G5 L0 J/ Bsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ \+ v! r# P! [The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no I9 A8 r S. j; e$ ], e, I0 O
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 e& q7 E9 M2 f: o0 J K- b6 b$ ?supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( b6 @& L1 Q3 ]& U; Mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" i9 O. p7 _1 n* Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby, R- ~ Z) b3 m; x2 K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* C6 s8 F! z' l7 Y
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 |/ j$ Z' S; f( o" T' { @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When. R- h/ K3 B2 i# H7 @0 t" a
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 I2 E, [) z2 O! @ H0 |charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 V8 N3 ^6 E% X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ B8 O4 J+ r; Pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ z: ~/ v+ w: [' Q$ Z8 _1 S
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel z: \8 p% l+ t4 F& {. f( j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 e, W! V! L/ L3 B0 c0 J3 \
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; ?9 }9 t/ c' gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& q8 E( v" X8 C+ I; ?; h8 Z2 X7 P
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) T- ^7 u1 d9 M- h7 ` B# T
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 @- M* {- d$ J6 N: a/ X1 Khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ Q* S4 U, d4 S5 g5 w, ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- L$ p9 e# C# z2 s4 N9 D1 K* M7 O
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; ?+ @& j* r' v, f' Q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 h4 @8 N/ ` b9 a" T+ y9 Oare spaces.5 {8 N* X1 q1 T0 v3 n
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ G) n9 N9 [5 I4 L3 R, |3 `2 |
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 r0 ~; f5 V$ A3 ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. k. @4 H7 p c0 `% E& y+ y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. K" q2 ~! v( ^1 j2 w: y, x2 M' L
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- M) p- n6 h% E( t R+ pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. c4 Z% a5 ]! z' h( anice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: s: P$ i2 k, R j7 o3 Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it `1 d0 H4 k+ Y/ S$ I9 K
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& [- H5 o% ~% M9 ^, r
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
