我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 I+ f0 W4 ]: A
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* S9 j; f: h8 r8 c# @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- ?2 E" v( A2 N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! M6 W( k7 V: U2 D t: d- tanswers to our pointed questions." e/ f0 F$ @5 k& j, A& x" f% f
" k2 M+ {8 m: i6 ?" R9 g2 vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% o# {" }4 B5 P: [% C8 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) I; s" t" f! `& O/ Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 e1 v3 Y# h* y0 x# @free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' U1 B; e8 H5 Z& O( `to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 U$ B: @4 ]6 B0 e
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 u- y5 `- u8 `; Z5 ^
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( D, b+ F1 O3 T9 Gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% G5 V; C5 E3 t: v! L
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. P$ B: j8 {) o- P+ Y( { uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) k j1 C8 y* T/ i/ j; Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ W4 ?- Q* u) i6 I4 b8 \6 Q2 T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% W. X! H; Z+ D+ ^& E
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, c0 h8 T+ \" h0 ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 `$ \7 u5 C+ [; l: tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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( ?6 m/ {' }. A8 r+ I8 y+ s; IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" z! M2 |: ~( ]9 T, G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( q/ S1 }) b9 a) X) W5 t2 M1 zsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' Z, F7 Z) `* x( d! X6 Q3 g
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! H3 V5 `7 o }$ y# kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 f ?6 c0 \ f4 d( v
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high* {6 |3 x2 S) B4 _0 M
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" ^% u$ \& X8 B4 Z: nDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 E$ r) X; n6 o! I; Qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 x; X/ W- e& M& U* F& K/ ocharge the fee defined by the state.
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7 s) J* C& y/ N: Q% H- H7 o9 z% ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
s* B0 q' Q2 R8 \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 J* h; H/ J- bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& W! v9 \1 K7 ^7 ^, x5 c
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- b4 ~) k) ?7 E+ z5 i c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 a+ o! y2 c& x5 x. N" Kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; v. q" Y: t: i: U
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 `0 A& Q ^' @, ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
" h! v7 O% Q z3 M( k* ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; ]4 ]* a/ e6 }* q/ G" Q) ^6 J) Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ O) u5 i Y- N; @people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 Y6 @" R) q c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 a1 }2 r5 c3 N: u2 E2 ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, N$ b8 J* e% o8 b5 a0 P7 c; Lare spaces.
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" R' d6 }, Q; ~* n4 @' zThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 k7 B! s+ L- `- b+ j
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, x' e9 f4 f& s5 o8 B6 h- v
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 |. \" D2 L5 g
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 F* n7 O* _- A7 h: n" q) J6 p' v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: v1 |$ g% L% Y; W5 G
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 p- P! W5 x( a$ N6 y/ L3 `$ r' @% w' y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' E: i$ Y2 B0 |1 D% W4 m3 x4 p
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: J7 n/ C! ~& f8 d7 _
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 F5 L: P3 c6 _4 R
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
