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
; M- m5 v [, L/ ^# Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 _% s" q3 U8 g2 V& ~
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% ~, ^8 F/ G2 T" L/ n+ |
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ |# ]9 K& _ `5 N, f5 T2 {/ ~# M
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, X; ]$ r2 W! G+ Q4 m9 p$ s( u3 [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* H0 S2 {1 G# X, hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! Z3 j1 U! ^: A2 w `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 s: F4 v* U, E" @* g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 j& z8 K4 j* _# d3 v* S" r5 v
medical schools.$ n# e8 d3 n2 g# K+ g- X( z4 g
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, \* Y d5 w/ U& T e+ k# B2 {2 x* kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: v: r. P; F2 p# N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" P+ p/ U) ?, b6 F l7 [. f3 o# |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, Z% E% U, `" q6 i6 o6 _: His from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 x' ^% I6 n- }: C' E% T$ e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 c6 W$ s& v8 x* f6 {# Z: E# b. V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. m, y# R: U, D$ |3 @2 D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 K5 R9 c. P2 \6 K5 A0 Dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 {- n1 r; a7 |. T) c+ F
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& A4 R6 ^3 O7 B% b; m
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. i/ V& M" P1 v; p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- ^/ H" t- x. I$ z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' b# A( ~" f- shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* B; ^1 R. ^& y6 d( R$ gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 R. d1 e8 I4 _' J4 G& k r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 |7 f0 ]/ A8 _, }* M' c' |& xdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, l4 ~0 F& Y' N3 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 ?! j. n. t# k" Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; W0 w" h8 C6 }" D' X
charge the fee defined by the state.
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: V# t0 W/ O9 {8 H/ ~8 LThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 D- f; W* ~. n# c1 x* @9 P
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 @( j4 ]' `; y ]5 n) F- ^6 Z0 s" Vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 E& ~8 y" Q/ n1 m* O
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
h! M( I- g1 d( j6 {* q# k7 S* Hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) m6 W& |) d6 K; ^, L' ~
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# z# k' q; @8 P, J
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 S6 z0 l. e! d+ G3 @* N1 Yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* f3 z) t5 U- T1 ]2 @ \; `- T
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 B1 J( \: n( i- @# _hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ W' W9 \8 o, w: W8 j
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' l$ ~5 V5 l) K$ Z3 G7 f! g
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 n- V; g! a- B" Z8 j
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; @* F" t1 \0 H ^
are spaces.7 K" S" _$ r8 G/ q& D
: y1 B, u+ \+ o- J. Q# _; DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# f# o" v/ E1 I" D
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ p) L2 O1 P3 K2 y5 X, wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 o3 u: s7 n# J7 a3 ^40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' p& y- N% Z0 w3 O1 Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 @ I% e; V' {5 n& I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: i5 o# Z7 w0 W" d0 {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" }9 @" k _9 vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 O! _4 d* R q1 h+ Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. l. ^$ u X) ^& z3 X0 i6 x
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
