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& l7 Y# q5 H4 H8 _standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 g3 r$ E- h7 X! zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' `- H/ S. d+ Z4 Q* s, A
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ B* d6 ?* u2 v; A5 X
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 y( n" j* [9 P3 K* j9 e) w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! ~9 B$ W9 K0 b D& l7 h
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( a3 G; j2 j: e2 ?8 a2 _# Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ L. G7 o6 _8 p2 W% {to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 F! x' r5 d, g: T/ L8 P# R+ k+ cmedical schools.5 e- O% h* W, b, F. p
4 s6 p' a) r$ f' z& y0 bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
# I2 O5 W; \1 s/ b/ h7 k6 N1 @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# N, ?2 v) K# b0 j2 m. a% z; H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 \/ f3 T! L! v) rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, o6 `. f1 E0 k& P; t
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
e B$ ^) r* U5 L* M9 nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 h- j% y$ M; gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. s, w8 Y. m- r6 O5 {7 qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" Z! [- E( b3 _& U' F: I: \shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% o! g, p! q( |5 A- f3 h" c1 i. Usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ c. [3 _5 m, b4 dThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
' p6 I5 O8 f1 N2 Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* W" X) Y5 N, o R+ q0 |
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 l* O/ J3 f8 K4 _" l( {- o# l
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good G. ?/ w; w4 ~* W' F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% F( C" Q( \# ^$ _* v1 I- N- ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 \: d3 ^5 `. H0 _9 \0 o' w5 S
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 k: o/ J6 e$ D. `% R) S# x* ZDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# N, D1 ~: ~5 l: l6 Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: ^; t$ t) F; g8 E6 J% X4 [) w' ccharge the fee defined by the state.7 X6 |/ V2 u7 _! a: |/ T
; m. Y+ e+ j5 R, z0 T, o3 VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: n, S/ z6 \! E* L$ uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ E+ A/ N) H" j& Uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ x! O" h& T) }% _ P$ o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* Q1 l5 @) g, x7 ~+ R/ kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" `; M( P+ l8 I0 O7 R- v dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: B6 N6 _* N- k I& S/ z5 Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 Z) @# y( _ l+ R6 c# L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' K3 }1 C+ T Y2 dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 F/ x" s- Y: c2 f& ^
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 m4 j2 Y9 l! |5 [+ w. F% [% speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 A% g3 B- T5 hto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 \" N' p, g( Z% `6 K1 t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 v& F: L# ~+ c/ Y: C
are spaces." T7 d) Y4 z7 v* T
2 M7 x; |' ?, N3 b& }) |There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 ~! g8 Z$ {7 S. q& f' h9 A5 K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- S) Z% v$ |5 w6 y- ~own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) _, j: `$ ~, Q; y4 u$ Q( r# G0 o- E
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 ?# D+ C4 Q. l) Y, {# Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; v1 W6 T* E5 z8 X" I5 d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
L2 Y2 c+ Y. d% n4 f" pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; e8 t1 Z" G: j* _0 ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 V, k( F4 Z- w. k: U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 [' c. t8 ^) j6 f/ M) Q6 Q; M$ u We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
