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
% f7 i# }. _- Q1 o* ~7 jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& W {; t9 X$ D( k y7 A: w* g8 Q oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 ^+ ^- o( s b+ \9 Y; e. |8 B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) o% |3 u5 ~+ z7 t2 ^5 i* h& T
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ T1 g9 k8 v* J* ?/ O/ a; t* F- l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 b0 b. H: z1 {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; |2 c( p1 v4 i7 a4 |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 B4 T* m+ ^$ D1 _ i; k
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 R0 C: K8 g. M- [# S& k3 G1 qmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; W8 z- h, b( m/ `: D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 _6 W' j, ^5 L
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- S1 o6 M' U+ b+ R, d. r
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ {% x8 |- B2 e- q3 `+ f6 K# p
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 _' |1 T2 K8 Y: J. k1 p( L
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. C' Z$ F; r/ r
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 q8 R# }. Z3 A( k" w$ ^3 ]: d% {. V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& F3 v& I, Q3 b0 J' ^- S+ l0 c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! I( m4 z( G7 }2 jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) l" s Q$ S8 B( G8 _
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; E) t; B, n, c! ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 {+ M9 s5 W4 }( `. Y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ |6 N7 \' }* R$ X ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 r! i B7 Z& ~2 e5 W |& \1 B! Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- e4 _# Y/ b; W0 E3 F4 `. tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. S5 |2 o# W% ]; C: _, m: ^
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
J; F! }$ S* O; v4 `3 eDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 e7 E/ t G' ]3 X% _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 ]' |. [* n0 ?) G1 q1 r
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ G0 l$ V7 c) T- h; ~
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ S4 \7 ~) \3 \$ D7 ^ D% ~/ j
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: R; y- N9 D* n8 }: n
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 w$ G3 F4 {; o$ V2 o2 {3 iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
/ r! H( L# D4 p4 E& r6 aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- r! `5 t. C- V8 _; }8 F, g4 G
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 B# [) v1 |6 W8 d# Eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 J) d& H$ R4 g
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, t2 t$ E5 O1 S& Lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ \5 |: W; ]% R" ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 p2 b U, ~5 |6 R; n4 H' L2 kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 _6 f3 }. t1 `/ C4 m' q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 m# K3 _- s; c
are spaces.
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+ u2 m5 B2 L! _, ^: ^9 A. g. dThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 d) I. ?' G2 K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) T, Q3 ]1 k- \6 D3 i N6 \+ Y [. H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- b" N1 E% b$ V% W40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 h* X; `) k k0 L- C' ~parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: c6 M4 d5 d# X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% i2 _. ]- R" `4 L" N/ W4 d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 B' a5 P$ A- X0 [/ Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 ]( @( ~4 ]$ t3 k% Q9 z* [1 Q, ^is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& A5 q* L) D1 O! f" X' V1 Z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
