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
: t( n$ |% l6 p; M2 \3 `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# Y, g3 v G1 b! M% ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( C; p" }% t, i/ B/ \
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; J( f8 _* N$ r' X9 danswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 f0 M- u1 |; ^8 A2 E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! @) X# N& |& I
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 }/ U% \; l9 @" U% ~5 Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ g# [$ C8 f% [- P. Y9 Y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& S. I! w$ g( e
medical schools.( |) g @2 U V# S
2 z) E0 v) q$ X! d, p j3 u, wEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: t: y1 J5 o- L) W" O$ b/ L: P" ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, q& j6 q# p9 q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 ]' z% F; O1 |1 |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* V9 i+ b* T8 j4 l5 Y6 k* ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 l1 V2 F+ e' O
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ C& J/ A+ \3 D& x$ F6 ]1 m1 f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; ^& ~, Y+ c, _3 j
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% V/ S9 j4 h, O! c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some: ~/ _, q& \! |9 v" r* B5 s; {
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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- c' @" n% ~, ?) p5 O8 rThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, _, _: K" t0 `, E5 cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 o5 \: H- U4 V2 Msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( C k0 W; {; m4 z# n7 j) d4 C2 V) @
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good& t$ Q) H7 Z" ?1 M/ Q( `+ m! p A1 e
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 Q1 `8 K3 E) C" Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 u: ^$ r4 A3 e+ a* [; `1 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) y7 U M' x" Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When9 O l" C# s0 F- |! K
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 e+ x5 Y% e* Tcharge the fee defined by the state.- N0 s3 r; w, N4 w0 n$ O
$ F7 N o3 t6 {+ GThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 j$ w) n7 C( f( i2 m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 W1 {5 f+ j9 X
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- y) k% M8 {) @truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( t. G' O+ w( ]: H2 H$ W+ b) E- Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* S { u& I/ Y4 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ [, r) f' c, Z: ?/ R+ C9 x
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! B9 c! m7 P* j. g5 m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
A+ _7 O' I; {0 J% Vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 U! Z# g1 x% S% e/ ^' U! y. c: Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 G5 h6 Z$ V8 K7 x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 y/ o# \6 @2 a
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* s6 v$ \+ b' r3 `buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; H5 }( s! Q; care spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# M* [4 O8 o0 s# z& j' ^5 A% t0 _. p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: p% P, w% j; `1 hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ [- {5 E1 q7 O( h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
2 y: h* u% M; i, b/ a" `) Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% {9 g( h! C, |2 m- R! Nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( P/ A6 l1 q6 l9 C$ B3 m+ o7 enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ l2 \# Y5 p4 o! C# a9 A" D" X _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, q- q/ S0 C1 C
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( h: n. ^9 W$ y4 ]: i1 w! o We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
