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
" C# U, v- ]8 X7 c9 C+ t2 ystandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# ]8 l" [. o$ t& Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' K D% k3 P+ Q6 U5 {4 M
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- P, n( h4 N9 K1 Y0 O% x- S7 {, o
answers to our pointed questions.7 D% G( s% H1 ?' t8 X3 s
2 t: R9 G: o4 G' [( B6 M3 l1 ?The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 R; m. X( u% Z# _8 n j9 `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( T+ ]$ y' j( G. @* I; O8 m" mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ j# R% b. o; F( Q* Q( ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' w( f" L$ y7 i4 e) p" }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
% X2 C8 T0 y8 Z& rmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 \! d+ P, x8 Q6 Z. Lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants v1 _: ~* q9 ]- ~3 Y- A1 P, e
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 @! x& X' E8 C F G
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ `5 s$ T: c# e; }5 O
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# b- z2 W$ R2 j# U1 _
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 B5 b q/ [4 H* \0 U3 n
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! L" Y2 d2 U' t3 d* `1 Q+ [mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% n1 ]9 ~8 R3 q; v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: }5 a, C4 q8 S2 p Y1 Y: N9 \: Tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. s9 I( I0 z% y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ X# b$ |1 x) u& s5 L5 s
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* C8 {. i) q' W: _4 |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- w, K# r6 O+ r# }; Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 O/ @/ W. j+ b5 Wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- ~5 d8 W0 Y; l$ U' h& w0 I* wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ q( p6 a! A3 a XDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 p/ w7 K# ~' n# ?9 r$ \! T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" t. H% W2 q; x: u4 I2 T% N8 t1 `
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 U, [/ Y, ]6 Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: [' q+ h# }. z& |/ a3 B. {& W; V
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% r* J8 S. b( [ D3 w4 Qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel [; z" C% E$ p+ S, v% ]" u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 R3 { _4 a7 `* Y/ z7 _" ~: K4 pworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' Q. }: \) N2 F5 C3 mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% w: l. f- e0 g8 t) B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) y/ o9 q& ^, T6 i# s( y0 Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* D3 H1 t- t4 P. uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ u- o1 [- F0 |5 w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! P1 ~: V# r/ ]1 J1 i: J% |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 h& m$ z0 o4 E; d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. F# l/ i1 t& b. x9 _( e4 X- Uare spaces.
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. f# K, g. l. V; I. g* `! K# R# CThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! \: ?# ?( ~) Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 {$ z- b8 {, a% a3 Cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; S3 F: q# a' c5 C: R* z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& T8 V* Z/ \4 ~5 M& |
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 q/ U. @% X8 Obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 j+ |; P. [8 Y" }7 l# L% t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 M( `1 e" g' G* @$ Y# D8 J
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
4 O: f7 L) u" u+ M/ Z3 ^- Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 G' U) {* e* y+ E* f% ^) k
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
