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
1 d; Y8 U/ b0 v" g5 X) l$ u6 A+ w) J: {" Sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" \( q7 y0 q" _8 |4 V5 r& _3 jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; j- d) E* {3 g# j7 ?- A"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ S' z7 o1 \# `- E) k
answers to our pointed questions.
% O2 r: H3 n. N) Y+ Q
& a4 i* `; D( J9 OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" `: [6 v$ s, D3 c) u4 c: S; M45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 U1 h: U$ m& h, X) u+ S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 Z# L9 v+ z( R7 \9 V' |2 L. M; P
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 u# @" v2 d9 w: T- s
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; B) c7 P" T0 {# Z1 r6 I- H/ Smedical schools." d& v0 k2 w) p# H* d2 I6 Q6 G2 Y
$ M7 I2 ~! |; i/ ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ l& y! t( W& e A% N7 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- V S' {* A R% f% R$ Y
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# V. n( c8 [- {9 }6 x: z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: l h& }5 v1 S( m5 F! w
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
k* l2 c. ~% q9 Qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ B' Y& g' a/ b& Q0 o! A0 g# B2 Q; oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ t6 `) ?4 A' fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 Y" p3 u T% z* n. a
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% M/ g+ o8 t8 o& y0 m4 o
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' P8 i, J- I8 E6 m! r
+ G8 D! U9 J9 Q0 g" `3 l5 ~: o! g
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" n: K% a T- F. p% [: v8 G+ [$ T8 I9 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# |8 r3 m. k2 k% H+ ]" N
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. M# A! ~1 n7 \$ K9 [
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& x( J4 K3 c5 n! _- Tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby E; J- @9 R( y! F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 e9 n |& x+ X o7 Y5 {7 O# R
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., }1 G7 N% Y i* ^) x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
x3 m8 N: x* f1 s1 G$ Sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% x+ W; u' h0 y% t# m% T& [charge the fee defined by the state.
) D; J+ [0 W6 p9 x- X1 z) a6 {8 @
4 H1 ~0 H. P3 E" |5 C$ X. rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" j+ x% Q# `* ^* m4 Gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ K( s! r3 ~% o. @# M- M! T+ C/ ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& P5 q* U$ P0 G+ G. h! }4 S
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
C0 @1 `4 P. U% q6 m" \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ c/ R7 U! s. a7 w! @; t; p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; a( B4 _( D' Q' L$ K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 ]) l* {+ T5 [( c! X4 W% nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 p: t8 E6 i2 I/ P6 i5 v' t) F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 j8 h' H$ @. N1 a* z+ k4 Y0 v+ t
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 A1 u2 h! u! f# E* Ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 G& M- m# g& I# W5 I8 s; F, [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. d$ Y8 H. H! \/ K8 C `0 x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* X% V1 e0 e. q8 c' h) zare spaces. ?/ @% m# {9 T8 Y! E* l. A3 Y3 m
+ T8 o- u6 X) C" B+ ?- DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' i; x, h* k( B. l5 h4 e- _
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 j5 ]8 X1 [, \* |" C8 K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: |& ]! ]/ D5 F0 M( _
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, R; v5 p" T% ? Q, Y1 D* ~
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 k( b0 x/ M4 i, T6 q$ p* `( Wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. G7 H. I: {% r7 [5 v
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 O2 |- l, s" \car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' B' s1 ~# C" l9 `1 G3 _7 K; L( pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" I( C" q! {3 M: F& K. l( E We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
