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 ~) A/ y5 Z& w. H3 Ustandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 ~7 u* o% g; G' A4 g7 g
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% e9 g; {3 }5 d$ ~2 G"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ j6 ]3 c9 X: V+ w
answers to our pointed questions.
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# ?9 H7 ~5 }. X2 _) M+ SThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! B: A$ Z: U7 b- k6 b5 P+ `0 v1 ^45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; @/ C9 [4 ^) y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 c( L5 B6 ^& z% ~# l. b! Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" |4 `5 m. f, @8 }& r9 q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; l4 x/ t5 t; u5 v. J/ P
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. {8 B5 i; G4 e$ G2 u1 c( q4 cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, s0 @, N: r# l' _) hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; [2 G3 d& q& D/ u8 V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 {* b) W& m* p1 ~! ~1 F1 h+ K
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 I+ e: D) g9 j0 m4 s& I6 v' e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There V1 X# m1 [' s& g" q4 h
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 z8 M X& Y$ k+ E# B
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 A( B: U" r( W4 B# v, B8 z# _) ?7 Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: }: J7 i$ T/ K& ?; ?sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 o W) f: \7 V G# a1 |! l
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; Z% {" b! S3 z3 C+ C: ]3 Ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( j5 r' p4 ^6 ^1 K% ~have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 p1 g0 i7 ^# r+ S$ T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 c- A2 l+ J7 H
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. L/ N7 h8 X: w% J7 x' P
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ b1 j$ _9 F) vDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; T3 x& B0 j0 N2 ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 x8 L2 }6 V; V, e. g) ?2 qcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: |- L1 R/ Y8 k# p, w4 L' x7 Xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& v9 ]0 O- o& j/ d ]; l) R
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 K7 K O0 Q; b/ y- S4 M
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. s1 |8 k% h6 j7 j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
4 y6 B4 O0 ^2 ]8 _5 K; @working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 u, n2 ?& \ Z- ~ G( Z( wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 v8 j) x* i: Q/ s6 b6 J" vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% q. I) I: P1 e* F* k D9 p2 n
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' @, a" v( ^. u# i
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 K0 f$ C& g5 Q. E8 rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 Q8 K0 C" t9 r1 G; qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 r5 O8 l5 j8 B- t j& Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
4 v/ n# ^, i; o' E9 K+ bare spaces.1 {* S! U6 j6 ]
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 k% C7 f+ L' u8 A# `( u8 a6 Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' O. i8 T9 [ L7 v$ q
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ O) T# B$ k' o9 ~2 K( t7 d/ f. c
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 k% i0 ?8 o+ G) [9 ]: t. |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% _: l) K3 y _8 \$ ?* U& ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! m7 @+ ?$ X3 ]; A4 o, }) ~. q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; j3 u0 N/ X! }6 d2 L$ a1 R# u8 I
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 j! q( x4 {6 S0 |% J- M+ a& Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! A% J! [5 V9 g8 J We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
