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
) h, ]7 }( \; E" \6 L Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. D& M) O- Q5 [8 p4 x' |+ t* t: k6 ^on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ h( t0 K' B& B* e* v( K
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! N4 c. `( m% n! Q9 Janswers to our pointed questions.+ W2 `$ w8 Y, b! }* R; G4 F" y+ \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ K4 n, Z3 ^2 |
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand i# i2 G2 K; B5 O. j! |$ k: Q' Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" W8 a$ z! i% Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 d9 Q7 @9 P q! p* g/ S: o+ ]5 W/ w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 [+ t6 g$ F. Q! B b5 U0 x! o# I
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the A/ w. s+ [& e% q G Q3 q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) }6 p/ G9 g9 a, w$ g# h4 n4 Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" A7 g# v; z* [! S( Q3 u- U$ @8 y! r) _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; j2 L$ t" S& l6 s: l; c! xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 o1 L E. l! n- K% p$ h
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
[( y* [/ T) t3 \( Mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* B" E% c: W- T/ Mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& k; p+ ?/ O* J7 v$ i9 }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some3 p; `$ L3 v+ K, Q4 \, J2 b5 ~
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. S% N$ W$ A( Yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
, q" ?5 @' X1 g- V3 u3 X+ N* }supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 \7 H$ v! V$ S
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
9 V: Z! E# R2 | G7 Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ d& V. I. t- |9 b# K/ f3 W nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
% Z2 R2 h: h* D5 T7 Cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ |! C& r2 J7 J
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
s) f. X6 K' }$ p+ Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ S* K2 i: a8 |charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 P! n; Z, ~- s s F
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, [6 ? |- K6 L3 |of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ y$ g7 e2 U& [9 a; ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel& Q' E/ m1 j9 { F
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. n' p _2 p* i1 i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* @8 d1 F. f2 Vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ A0 {) P: S$ l& a, q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 A4 H; L; c$ k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ d( ^9 ?3 @3 A5 F R5 h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 t7 k% t* w. U/ e: {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" e) }! M0 U0 c6 m2 y4 t" |& b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. C/ z; J1 D0 x- U
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ I( w- r! n/ q5 E' S5 c7 ]2 B
are spaces.
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" t: {/ g. T: ?8 V6 v4 GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; `4 _0 a4 [2 Y7 P: y( ?) t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 w5 i$ F7 B ?: y6 X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 ^' i; Z5 y" I }- J4 w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 {. L/ ~- J9 @( g$ E# k* z8 Q6 sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, M) t, Y/ h. p/ j1 C# j/ Lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* c( C% Y) ^3 r; {/ A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 T6 g h7 y6 a' j b5 vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# W( r7 l; r$ F1 _0 z, ]' wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% u; E; ], c% E2 W
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
