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! V2 h6 l( m. v9 |& Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) i h( ~1 e3 x l2 Z( A/ s7 Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& Z8 x8 ^3 z/ t0 x; |2 U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. z/ q k" A, E8 r1 t* {) z0 p8 B
answers to our pointed questions.
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/ R7 H. x6 W! k/ p, mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. |; U4 B1 M; c" g, _0 l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 ?' z7 [/ x# y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- |. ?: M2 @ O
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 [ ]$ x# C7 b; W
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: ]5 _+ N% u( m1 ^- l3 d2 V7 v) b" J, Pmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 B. |" Y2 @ sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& g0 Q& `; D+ ]' H$ o
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- u8 n, x% j" X& r0 E L
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 A' Z7 f! W; H+ Q4 I: k9 M
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& W& e7 |3 q/ K# |8 j Z0 |
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
0 U1 g# P& }' _) ?2 q9 Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# {& G# D6 D, p& Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ D5 \5 X" @! p, x4 ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! H8 @5 B! S! O2 F U
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 U1 {$ ~( `. V" f+ _- M9 N6 Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 G# j9 d% O2 [$ M, o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) n! r9 k; U5 h! ^5 y3 xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good [, _( K; s& ^1 s8 [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( }& K( E4 ~- J9 i2 T% x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high _8 _: d. d J, }; ~. r0 B
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% A1 Q+ q! S) o2 v" J2 xDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ ^# ^/ G' R* \! I7 ^9 _5 U7 c" [
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: n( l' ]+ A; ~* U1 a7 w
charge the fee defined by the state.
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" A& P5 ]; [4 H% W- h* }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 X1 _7 S9 y! g' g0 Xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. R/ R3 ?8 s. y- ~9 F3 D3 Y+ W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- i4 Q* i, e# W" Qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 f$ h. H' G+ \ cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ q% t6 z; u5 b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ W5 ?" z% h( t6 o; y, cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 H4 B+ _3 `" ~0 {1 @& ?
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 Z- H' h+ C# Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& a+ p/ s' H) O# X) @. a3 Y7 d1 }' qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- a F, U P7 e1 [/ @people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
$ J9 m7 D3 ?) zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! {/ T" a$ o0 H0 Q' j( N. o0 M0 m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 [' d% A2 s1 Q k# v, `are spaces.) r! R# G9 R; E1 i2 Y! _
/ g. [4 [) Z. Y8 T7 fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 e, _& q: m b2 `6 N' Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' e- P$ D; F$ E! T3 Eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 y0 N1 _* a/ y" }* d! l
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 b5 a9 y/ h6 m) D# L, w
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! E% E/ F3 W) Z$ X, \best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) X9 G' ` z/ g" [) \nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! N* V2 ~* b( e3 M* t3 i) `car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 V8 b5 |2 ^1 H3 p3 G) Y2 F9 _is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 m! r3 c1 z I8 W9 ?& I We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
