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( ?' g5 s' h" t/ [* N' d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 S: d' p& M% J- u" x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# p7 d# `: V$ P! ~% z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 `0 _/ ?7 f) W
answers to our pointed questions.
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4 V/ P6 J& G# O' |' A. jThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, e' q7 U$ j3 q/ W9 l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! L& [) s7 h. P x1 b+ ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- p9 Z8 i! W( L4 G: I/ s/ P
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' }+ Z( G6 o8 G# M" U
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are D% w( x# [ \, |! G2 J* n9 F
medical schools.2 X: L u$ A p% H
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 ~( I; o+ z/ l! x
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% `+ s, [0 g- w0 M l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. V/ h) B( g! D! `: F8 y9 Dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& |& r6 D% X1 o- m' F5 his from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 S! T/ g P7 B9 [1 k3 [+ `! o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' W' k& b& a }" v# n1 R
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* s4 E& V: R6 [+ |' D! o( q4 h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) c" s( @0 r+ r& ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, f8 O( r7 Z- K& A7 H6 l' @, J- b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* `3 J* z0 y7 Z; X5 m+ Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! B* W; r: T/ e* W
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, J8 z2 }' X! x! L9 Ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, k7 n& j: ^5 q! n1 Z8 k, jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( d+ m4 R1 _! n! n" L: } ^0 U, I6 Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& p; v' {( G* X9 S/ X0 Q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 _8 d! `- n4 H* Y- @& p" Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# y2 L' J! w4 l' u4 @' Ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ d/ v) g( R+ ^# Z0 scharge the fee defined by the state.4 ?" f T: l+ }( |
4 l/ A; i E( {0 h8 A' ^& SThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 W5 g: d! p% N' X7 B3 K3 A, \) A/ b
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% z, S6 F( t p+ R
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- }+ d2 o9 B G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
. y5 Z% ? Z3 s( ]7 ^7 ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' B& j' I$ ?- S* C4 ~
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& v: l2 K/ a/ ]( P* E/ Qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 i. w4 L8 V6 \ G; J' i
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 Y, ?5 V' ~8 H0 `$ T! Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ U( Z T1 |* q/ j; [ v$ P
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ I I0 o; V, @; j9 Y' A) upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% a U4 S; j- g4 ]4 r" Q1 Vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* U4 g! q# h. v+ Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% l; V( N/ W* M4 s5 p" Y u6 dare spaces.: l& B0 i& A* o) j/ C5 N5 I
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- E' `8 x+ S t$ V$ Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: | a* _3 V+ {! a! G1 }1 c) ?/ s
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 O' k* [7 w% m( L' r3 F
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 y! M7 T5 @/ [5 s7 b5 `* U9 A- [0 V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 N' w7 W5 H; X- ^5 O2 Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! y: Q6 [3 ?' G
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 J: Y% E3 N* {9 gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ q; _, V7 \ A7 P: e Q1 `* ~/ b: k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 r6 w0 R+ B9 D6 ?. @2 j We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
