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! s$ d6 k' d* x: {4 @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# l& C; [+ p) ?7 B; E
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 S: ]3 Y$ {8 @; z7 k( d
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 i( r0 T- n1 d( ]7 \( p% X, \+ {
answers to our pointed questions.2 W8 ?4 T# V- L1 r$ e
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ L6 h; R0 L# _ h: M# j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: }1 K- }8 l; E; f$ b Oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 `, }% t1 f9 H5 \1 [% z5 [free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ ^. ?: P4 o$ h) e eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
- `7 n- ]- E+ }medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
4 w# `8 i3 r. b2 X+ {1 D7 @0 ?" F3 Xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 `% P! x# @ @# ]+ F* |! x, s
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- A6 v6 {4 j+ P5 ~- n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 ]% J3 @9 j- Z$ q5 s* m; L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- Q- ]' g2 m0 `+ P$ y# u1 e7 wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 @) W% `1 y" H3 v }9 S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 x! j8 s9 P8 ]& h* hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: g' B/ O2 s. _/ N$ d Q& c% p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 l/ [% }' }( L6 Y4 T
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 E0 Z5 V' ^# d+ n5 O
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ S- D; y6 n$ C; B7 yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
' Q' V3 ?0 I3 j2 R: w4 H0 wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. a# V' F9 f9 ^* i% xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 [+ I7 s, t e( b' V0 e
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! ^8 U, c$ B Q. [sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
D3 a( D: a6 u( J; D1 vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' C+ ]$ E8 W1 H+ \
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( E! h s' ]6 w& o7 J) O2 g* {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 K, y4 ?1 B1 O' _3 B' ` X2 Z7 \# Z( I
charge the fee defined by the state.8 e4 f3 C) X0 i9 \" W
U( ?( [5 ]$ T" L' w$ kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% Y" ~" \; F4 |8 Z! u1 Non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 P1 r& ]! l# f( y$ x$ n! l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 c+ W/ p. `! u" Y9 x' B2 Htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" V/ d$ a; `8 E9 L4 B$ f6 \, tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% L: C7 P& o5 G% P: X2 w
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- j$ x( W+ n" a! r* r
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) [2 W8 T8 M: r6 R# R* V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! k7 _+ q/ }; Q& ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, C3 P- n4 p5 d5 o
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 \% y2 `- a; ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. ?5 b! c$ a& S) X" U- }
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; D4 _4 }- r2 B% nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 b- L5 V; ^1 k8 l- Q6 Q
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& _; s" d; G) E% U2 C
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 Y' L/ T. U1 {# N* p6 o
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 |, K: F @" q ^1 w40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 E2 |$ C2 d( l1 \' {7 {% F/ _parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 J0 {$ |: o, e/ x7 U
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; O( g' u8 N7 J3 m) Rnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 B9 _& v O& y7 ?car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ D$ [0 m: m; l
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ }, p& O" U, f2 K3 \4 w
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
