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" H: R6 L4 `, N9 i/ J( p6 Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' r- n( K2 ~0 k' oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& T" n; U6 L) H"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; N. ]: h9 [ Y3 z# Y: U8 s# n6 `answers to our pointed questions.( q- x2 O6 ?2 }1 f8 ], m
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% P9 I5 _$ Z; v% U, {- l% V6 M45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
- j$ E6 h8 D# ^: \' Oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
7 D7 F y9 p3 Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 R* y7 u2 ], l0 o8 t" pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 a( v& [& d% i2 m) {! O; qmedical schools.
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k) Y5 o* n- _% Y$ A: M% X# @: R0 v1 oEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- _' D N/ \0 X+ D; {( w7 ggovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, F5 x! u ~8 j1 w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 T( Q' K/ g; eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' U5 D/ V( h) ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to }. o/ C& {% Y% `+ X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, v+ `! b/ t0 D8 p
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! f* J, g y, L, e" H6 x
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, F6 y) d+ t5 a/ ]% w cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 e. ]# _6 r# }& D6 I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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" Y3 |4 q) c# [The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ u7 k! c1 l: K8 t1 ^7 V' Q0 a, w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( X. V. ^5 o' P/ ]% v
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 b0 j% T4 @# `) L. o% i( {* }have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 K2 G( n2 S6 W
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 `+ T# G4 s2 P$ Q/ J. J) {sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. F! F8 ]4 `1 y( }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' k) M6 D/ |8 W9 i( e- N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" g2 V( O$ p& N, N! y/ xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' W% Q* M! P% N( i1 z9 acharge the fee defined by the state.9 v# I" I: C7 n# Q4 r: V
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, T7 F) u+ o" m9 `4 Son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) P. H$ P8 \7 a+ Z( e0 d
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: ^6 A/ M$ v- N$ U. qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
& v( F2 L( J# Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' o7 N: W4 D, g; }' y& A6 @5 ~working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 L! V: s. e) t, L; j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* R5 K7 n! O+ L/ H* K0 P# l9 iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) }& O6 r, F$ M [, }8 F( t7 r+ }) Qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
( K. X, [: a' z4 o3 e8 c6 e6 Y& x7 Fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" c6 G! h$ V% L7 Dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! V- K% H# J7 y. |/ E4 q4 D3 D6 Hto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) L: f( \( U' [1 ]; Q8 Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
d$ A' E- J/ x5 V& `are spaces.
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+ i5 n7 q# {2 m/ n9 ~5 ]There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 t9 }4 f7 n/ F. S. d' j5 y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 Z A, w) F4 H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 I1 m: a) }4 P9 o: H3 a3 U3 @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- U7 p3 ?7 r/ }3 h9 }+ ^* Xparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 n. R! J. V4 d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 ^* X0 p. B v- m6 r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 v5 Y/ f+ C" \: Jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- R7 d/ o" p8 f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 |- }+ l+ [) @" u We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
