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
& l# N5 s) u% r8 w3 u9 R5 hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 K; Q+ u9 C( z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 w4 `9 O+ W) ?: a1 O"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give J. l M5 J/ [$ b% T
answers to our pointed questions.' o/ G4 ?0 m. C8 T
$ V1 p, P" W2 i7 D; LThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- u- e$ P" z& f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 u$ \) [7 {- {9 v" I
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ W# s+ W- o5 ^" u
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 Q! {" ?8 p; H& U& @+ o: {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ O3 M% u5 u/ c* A7 T, J+ W4 v# j( V
medical schools.6 l$ v( ?3 E" u% a* T0 \5 J
% H1 K. o" n! r/ w5 @/ N$ oEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- A6 \9 D& k8 f5 k B
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants2 ?4 S/ j* a* } @
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years o6 X6 N/ H$ x0 j7 a1 S
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 ^7 ^6 H7 O- i1 C1 K
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' y6 w" s5 U S9 k
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 T) T! w& x( W4 K/ W6 h$ ^seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( [5 B" w% P2 W# V2 r% ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk, m: q- c' h9 {( ^! c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; S' l( |0 x2 z* m: msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 Y1 \& ]! M7 v. m1 w5 s% l
# H" ^7 b( I6 m& O9 a" kThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# Y( T N# J3 R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ n/ Y' I5 H/ O% w0 s
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" C! E1 t1 k6 d! _5 r2 J+ V
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ m8 Q' Q8 o( ^* y0 z/ _' rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 w, j& t( h, Z: c! Y5 `. W3 P
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 f1 q9 W) [" Q" g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# ], B7 j1 b1 j% ^* \& Q1 N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 U# d3 L' E- o6 N) `& C
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& S' d( ~9 g# y% y6 V9 J. G% W
charge the fee defined by the state.9 {( O/ x. B/ z' q! \1 s# _; j
0 b% d0 [. A) |' w9 v$ i9 q1 AThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
& z8 `! @* N# G Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( I) e% n6 r4 t+ o5 m/ u0 }4 J0 ]) `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( p- N. K0 _. a4 P4 x$ s8 `
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 c! [6 b' N8 D* c+ O( cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 L7 d4 M% y/ f) t
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( V) J% `" k6 N! j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ z& D5 p& B1 a: A$ e
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 p4 a4 O7 j- m- D- K2 _3 ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
4 k! T9 z2 Q8 K* |2 chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that S& u# T- K/ w9 F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 o: T) Z& {, }/ u! M! nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 |: V& X; C3 Y: X. I- sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ j, M1 f! |. {
are spaces.
' s4 v- _2 z4 w2 g+ |: c2 ?* R1 ^) D7 j( |" \
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) ]5 v7 |. G' {2 l2 R( N
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) s6 e) m$ T& s/ o: kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 z5 ^! y9 D. d% I! ~# |
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 N* N0 u x' @7 l1 _8 l/ ~ Zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 h) D! o5 o$ M9 }8 c9 lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- h2 o/ o& x5 p2 o/ Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 z. Z# r# \: h9 }
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, ~. W; |# H$ n: Sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: m5 w' q O5 L' R3 r We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
