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
7 m# ^4 K$ h7 p% m$ Lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* _+ N& W& \$ V4 {: T( Uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 _3 N6 n9 B0 ]9 V"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% n' r& ?* t5 W- n
answers to our pointed questions.0 g/ p" _6 b$ ? e+ y& b7 o
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 l3 D5 S" H9 F( v
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; o! H0 l2 a; }1 V" |+ Y2 Yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 L! O/ U7 _, E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 S" [' w% P" s$ E7 w* ~% k" k; o5 Vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
% W/ X- D) O2 v7 x: Wmedical schools.' L" w8 c2 s- Z7 d* t" `8 _
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 Q+ y8 V7 P) mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) Z! J! A- V; \; @2 ^
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& n* |5 ]8 w- d" p) R% f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% \* D/ W: e4 d, F6 S4 @
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 X+ Z0 D9 P. }2 n+ h/ A6 Nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- D8 `" l4 R0 Q; k9 B6 J
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. u- z- O( G- H
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 x) t# f1 V' l3 g4 j. w* U# a
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 T7 @% b' Q8 W+ |2 \: v, xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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' [5 i4 t9 |. b; z" o OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 e5 b! }0 |9 ]* _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) x6 `6 ?* Y2 G7 ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 k7 z$ f- V W) N( w' @ f$ f
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- @+ v! S6 F0 A& p
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' q6 I3 K$ {/ G4 N0 {! wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 \* p# A* Z7 i% {divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 w B; H3 K. w' c: k2 R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 S" R2 v, ~* p1 ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) x6 ~& j" X" b" n# }& [- x! {3 Ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! _' i& `- w& r/ U4 \# ?7 z
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 N1 w$ r! l8 w" E3 H0 Aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. L7 N/ h/ x0 J" t2 Mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 N" T: o. U! vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 ?7 ?) X8 m) Z3 B B7 i% O' Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
% e; j$ b8 p* W& y9 pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 W) k- S/ R; |9 x" H, L. Zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 G& S" ] r& l( P0 \ ^3 u8 K. a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 H2 \5 U: z( d7 j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) p: a+ U) M {4 S: p4 [' L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# @' E9 }$ W* g0 N3 N* B0 U
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 S* W2 e- G, H, D! [3 z9 F4 Q X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& D7 b, G' s X6 `
are spaces.0 G% W: K- u* A7 L
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% k$ A. H# G9 u! n" Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) V: O& R: v |7 e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ ]# v8 e% ^, e( `+ H3 i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* ~4 h8 d' A/ v4 G/ h+ F) x
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# B: c4 N0 L! z* c/ k7 A& y- Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' Z3 o7 H i$ z0 y3 G0 e9 `nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& Y8 N; Q0 H; `! E2 e% |
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 L& V4 G& P- i! e$ \+ tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) Z/ w! K8 r' Y2 } We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
