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
! I$ K- } i) { g; n% {% ystandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 c8 N; O; S7 ^5 f9 l; y" k' \- v
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: O& [2 [7 | V' f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 s3 ]/ X/ e! p9 h9 V c# M
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( _ o0 m2 _. W8 y" }1 j45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand V' f1 D" A! T2 Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 ]) Q5 Z5 o) G; [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 G0 B4 h; b! |4 z1 T8 ^6 v+ Vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, A' Y* \6 q$ U
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 H2 Q$ ?" [* A9 N" |2 E& Y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 D2 L- I/ | ?2 [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, M7 v# \5 v7 I! \( W, u
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- @* e5 B% e2 U! I0 K; Q/ p: eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: \$ C# N- G7 [4 v aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 _* u8 _5 o4 W/ ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 Z4 Z& Q# Y; l( ~
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 R7 R' r# X) n" r' G- W$ q" r
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- m" [/ M2 q' P5 U9 I% a; ?sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 }, T9 E- x- U6 U
( b4 E0 _1 R3 U+ `$ a4 IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' i1 V$ Y: U; A, M% \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 \1 o. {" t( k1 D) U3 {
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 e$ r4 G4 v# F( k5 thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 f# P+ a5 L' @7 d- I* G
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* m7 d1 i6 c/ A7 v
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 c% ? T0 ]6 f/ n/ Vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 p: \) n" U& e1 S+ M" \% R H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" P, L7 {2 F# P; B0 `/ sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 P% C* w/ {. d) x3 q+ D: bcharge the fee defined by the state. }: i5 p( E- P- C; Q
( {- r( |+ U# u+ @+ O8 ]5 j$ }8 sThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! y9 E5 g) d6 N U5 O) W3 Q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- }8 k( @9 s5 q/ n
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 Z5 n9 x/ W& @$ V% [4 U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# x, t2 F( m& N+ [' X& p9 P
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# ]' C0 b! \ X" M3 C6 a u. \
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" v8 o! m f0 M# _% @6 i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 \7 J! y4 _( p; I6 I
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
S# B( \6 e. d6 h1 ]8 d4 {trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: b6 C- v5 Z* x: Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" r. L+ L6 m& u g$ ]( o
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 P! C9 o: C+ U9 D; x- Q3 D' B$ ~+ m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 ?, ]5 x, W# X; mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' i! R8 u* S: \/ i6 `are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! |3 T2 p* p4 S: Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& G7 ^4 T. T9 E
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 m6 }9 m) _7 N- {5 B5 c+ x {
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. H3 E, v5 R$ [" P7 Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
; K. P5 \! o A+ K& _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 b p. @5 T+ M
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 h9 `( ~2 }# @; V9 lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# O- E$ b6 ?+ s* I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 O5 a* G# V( ] k- u
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
