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% P4 {$ Y/ Cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
! F" e5 G s% {on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 p. B5 y4 J! J0 M"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
- P* P# w7 Z& {$ q8 S1 Fanswers to our pointed questions.% V) x2 R+ r5 E0 \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* P( e' D7 U+ w& z3 {8 w. F
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* o5 q( _: Q$ u* r1 p" w' ?out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 @% v& `5 f8 afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% ^. r9 e7 @" E7 w0 rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ _; O5 E M2 l1 {; O
medical schools.2 \1 l( [" u: `2 |
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 m/ M3 U6 W' x! Z B- ~8 E
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% n7 P* o3 c0 I& [4 Q: c1 S% d% Q/ Wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) ~# \' S0 F' i2 G: }assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: R8 z* p: v% X* l( m; ^0 j
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 p; x& h! S \3 _+ q) c4 gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; {$ U8 ~9 v, M y7 B% ?: T, d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 j" k1 u/ ]; \9 j0 a: d2 k; Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- n" F1 x$ K5 v, `' ]
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' z- Q% u# o8 d% \# ?8 Q) T5 xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, R( Z$ m( { Q- ^+ tThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) z- X" w0 |+ r( I- t
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. N8 I* K% s9 l4 f7 ?9 qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" i+ V- U3 C, l. c# uhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' H1 Y+ L0 ]: ]7 A6 I; e
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ e8 A; N. `, ]/ {- P5 ^) y' Rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 r5 }- k I+ |% i; a' ?/ I, @5 _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 c: l, O+ [5 N& o5 N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: S' g/ w L# i0 c |a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
R4 A. i) A, }& ^. s/ Rcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% u8 K" [$ N) h; H' U- T. c* kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; A3 |7 Y7 D; v/ u. Y6 Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big |$ @8 P; p0 X! z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ J6 C# |9 V4 P, B% \8 ~9 F2 zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 ~: |, F% ^# F: g( { _1 `6 {& \( cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ P) C X7 i8 u0 k& t
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
x) v/ j2 C& }) gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, J/ Z' C: u8 y3 gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; [3 C% W/ A i0 i1 ^ }# {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; J: f7 y9 T) K* f% B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# a0 M1 N8 F9 o- r& B& D& b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 J) Q" C0 R- y; e( B
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: ~ s( D! k4 n; O* Aare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ }1 {$ g: f; w" \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 A1 Z* L4 Q0 W: j3 hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: ]! l/ b+ t/ h0 t( K
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: W- X0 M5 z- p8 k [( z6 Z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 j9 E4 P2 n+ Ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 q8 l8 A9 Y- k
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ x! P2 w( B2 Y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 m2 ] {) {0 O: P: H. ]0 m
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 z( n( t* [- T% e, ^3 P
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
