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
0 b& Q& r3 R; {5 S' s! Nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 r* @; @( j' w( v ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 ?$ m2 h) o8 b3 t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( Z! b: [; q; ^8 P5 L- U/ Danswers to our pointed questions.- ^8 Z$ L! O, F" F+ _- k
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; K( e6 q$ C. ? j. e45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ ~! `/ V7 k1 u3 X( v
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% h! c; S$ w/ H( Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 D3 X6 j C) c: B
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; F ~2 \+ s: K7 _( hmedical schools.: F7 T) h# s" \' m1 x2 k; T% ?
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 W: P# Y7 z" l% H: l( s
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: p! H# M. D. Q5 K* J8 X
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 ]. T0 X( _* G5 q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 I1 `! @& w7 G/ x8 A
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- s1 F% E8 l0 \9 p
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
+ t) q0 m' D" {- o: j9 q$ Xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 s. a) h/ O9 Q% P+ ^5 l. O
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 f* C# q% \+ U) zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some) Z, n- t$ l5 g0 ~* l: Z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- ]% {0 r; X* q0 S0 v
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
|; F/ v7 b6 J8 Y3 a+ Y# Asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 r2 s$ e" Q# O6 `( x
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- {- n: t$ m1 r( T5 x* Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 Z2 p( G0 u2 @" K. ]5 C: f$ Jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- E7 R2 W( S9 I! J+ c0 v1 R4 u x
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) `; f/ P4 S0 N0 U0 P! ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 H2 v" O1 s. [' S# b( Oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
$ V3 I& s( I$ q) f: ?% ?- ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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0 [1 x. A3 Z' L% v7 xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' {# S6 j9 [1 s- H' c2 }% e1 J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" }& p8 z9 p$ j+ E+ F+ w& kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big V& N- T1 e; k% C
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! q! R$ Q3 r8 U8 N: i }8 k( J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 v' G1 I& Z3 Y8 }$ N8 c0 Q' h
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: @( l" a) Z; j8 p3 f: L/ gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 v' j# e6 w* ~! A& L# t+ T
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 e2 j" V8 D0 d& [ ^: z I
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. U% P8 O. Y9 E# Khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! s/ f5 L: v. {! Q* kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ R3 |9 W/ W+ P% C: q! R/ wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 c8 i' n6 i7 ~) E7 _9 T: w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# w2 r: V9 j* @& p. i
are spaces.
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- ]4 |& A% F7 G& u7 hThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- W \% i! e- b2 C
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ m: H6 {2 r8 D) B. B4 [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( W) Z" G5 a+ l8 }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 y; t* {) i5 t' F: K% N- Y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 o" S' Z* d* e! K
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; Z D6 }2 t$ P& ?% h! |0 K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 K ` J( a) N2 W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" U0 Y9 }' [! C, P0 y5 pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. R1 O, k- {- V. a$ e9 ]/ D: w
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
