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! M# ^: I% N5 B9 d: Y% F2 v
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 @1 [- |- u: O' J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, a6 d1 ^% ^( n1 B, T
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# Z( i) n& ~/ G' t: e$ ranswers to our pointed questions.9 t0 L, `6 Z# [" V6 a
+ `( N8 D/ _* |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,! q' a! B9 Y( O) A6 o3 _3 k
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( A, M' w* F; i0 x) D. j, Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% \2 E7 x7 x! p5 t* v5 c; l( Zfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 G2 ]' W5 O1 e. d! Q% ~+ b
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 y# U, R7 H0 X+ L6 r
medical schools.9 W/ n3 }2 z) Y
$ U y. ? a! R
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 }) D) T1 I g# w/ j9 K
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) ^0 e; u9 T( s: u H: N5 r2 J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, ?5 b2 j) }; _/ k8 iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% C, c1 [1 {2 ?) |0 V
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 N' T5 Q _& x1 Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 r# T" [: w6 Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 d% d. V% j9 `8 S4 A. C, Q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) u# T7 E' P$ G" n) p' v# {
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( T7 ]/ c; H. O5 J; _) z" Q. I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
; g! |5 B5 W5 s" K! B+ r, J% x. r
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. \/ D; U9 O0 ~0 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 @8 c8 I5 T! W/ N! Hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) @% O) s* m4 N' |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* |+ h% e$ }: O5 kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) l7 n7 P$ Z, a! v8 ?/ E
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
* P0 }& {5 G6 C% X, ~, k7 _3 f7 C2 ]divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 s/ s" c8 k* a2 Q8 n
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* x, B8 k8 l9 w$ H1 n- V! ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! l k! J4 _+ K. ~* b+ q6 [, w. N
charge the fee defined by the state.' {) \! W2 p3 t1 |1 {7 n6 D9 _. B, t
U" Q" b% b7 A- z7 AThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" x( c8 m% d0 W' y4 x( H5 `2 |
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 {$ ?& m1 b/ i, Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 V6 c3 J0 ~: ~; h: u
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ P/ O1 s) f2 j$ F. k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* y+ f" s3 W2 u4 x* v6 {/ vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" c7 V6 M+ \. xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, Y, {8 u5 S# a
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% b8 f/ K5 W* [, `8 @; J: @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 x, Z$ ` M/ ?* o
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
5 p. y# ?0 I" D) Q8 Vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% B. S5 l( D" r/ u3 |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or: t0 y) a& P$ Q8 {7 P
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 [* T6 _7 G: R! ]7 Q6 @
are spaces.
! N Y6 `: T8 t
# j, m$ B8 o6 w5 j7 S7 f" GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
j. [7 D; z. y* b/ |& Qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: ~7 i6 p0 N# P6 u5 ?own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 k. w" ^+ n/ h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: z4 x3 |: N. ?# j. vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- X. \) j; V4 z* R+ n( lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 H9 x* h6 d2 b. D1 a4 g2 k& gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' S4 h) d# l% u. e: q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 N" K' ~. l C2 c! G: r5 T
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 J0 |5 B- f5 j0 u) N. Y1 z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
