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, l: T9 J0 o: U2 f/ l [. c8 i$ }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, k# v9 t2 H, H- ^on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# d8 h5 d% A/ n4 |+ M4 g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: P2 W. @; f6 t! Y3 c4 g
answers to our pointed questions.
0 m. `8 L( _ t& U# ?+ t r' }& {. A, B. [
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. Z# B+ A. P2 ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 U2 Z: H. _% {$ y3 n8 x' N1 n# tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ w0 W; ^/ o" h4 L2 I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; [5 D1 a8 K0 S3 K! n& ]
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& N& l! C& d$ ?8 c! S# w% Smedical schools./ \" h" L1 {2 \6 [9 x
2 }5 w4 e6 l0 X$ j: O, K2 GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 N9 k4 {5 E& Z9 W
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) k, m/ I7 E2 b6 Q0 I! I/ f) Uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 N. G9 Y& Z# o9 ?0 v+ y. iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ S. k7 R5 z; j* h' ]4 |! V* ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; |$ _" s6 b; H! o* @3 t, m
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: T; r7 m5 O7 yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ I! M: n0 m- k1 k4 m
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) V, o+ z- l6 k6 J. L% h5 Bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some( n# B3 V; ^& z- z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
' g$ z( k. T3 C E7 b4 \; E; h6 `" Y6 p6 D; D# X- y2 Y) |
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( F0 t4 _& U. Q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 z/ B A. _$ O( O, N6 ] G1 y5 V( c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! J, Y7 J: Q& L' |9 W& C$ Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) M, \9 d) o8 G0 \
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, D3 }3 F6 Z" N" R! v: z% f6 o) fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. a* ^0 \% q. Z$ w9 a( b# \( fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- B) z; o& W$ H; J0 Q/ w0 LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
J; R4 R g' l! Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' ]1 u+ y- T9 K' j" I1 M2 e4 |charge the fee defined by the state.. l. H- ~; C% {2 J/ u5 ]9 ~
% H! o. S0 m. G; e4 z
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 R4 l5 p% T. y! M( I
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: I1 Y5 x, N& K$ ]9 b9 s: ], w+ @9 n/ aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 X |% Z* y0 t w* Ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 [0 ?. l+ C" [: J5 J9 e! m7 xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 R5 k, {; P7 H% u8 ~working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 D5 ?9 F$ z/ tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
/ t4 v9 z. q& r myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. ~" H+ u" [$ x, |/ \* q% ~" vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 p4 e1 ?, ?( ]/ ]# p& Z, \$ Q3 Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 j% |! K. P; _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
. L/ z" t- o9 A1 e0 Gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 F3 Q, [& w& \buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# Y$ ]/ f" U- J: V4 D1 ]2 f
are spaces.- j) k0 t1 g& @, M) t
9 w9 J; n# D# m- v8 d0 M/ y
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* R" s) A1 M% {7 F# g0 `2 Nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. p( Q, n" c5 j+ @* K& h9 l
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 Z ^0 j& W2 W$ T( {40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, Z! K* S& u' h* J- [5 V5 E; ~0 Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 G, o+ P+ k0 L! f8 O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ w" F5 Y( n" o% Q% L/ P b- F8 xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of Q) B/ [; X: {9 @: M" z( A7 W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( M) P( w; Q4 d" T8 i0 {
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: x' D5 V. O' q& v# p( a6 F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.