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
4 r( k0 \0 g* Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ T- b0 f b0 K& x+ s2 @* a8 {on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 d. g( v. | I( f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 ^$ _0 l g2 E( Canswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
s0 a( d3 g( m# Y6 o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 s. E# y( h6 _9 P* k
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. o9 u% a1 z H5 L7 q0 h
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ]! ^8 n" D4 O1 D0 X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& ^" Y7 a# e5 t- I9 S s2 R+ I, Xmedical schools.
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9 S( A+ |9 L2 v& o2 q2 `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ e4 x# E- v1 U( xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ e9 s0 V) M( O) Oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 {2 U4 ^5 M$ P2 Aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, H. j6 y9 k- k7 d% Z* Ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 \5 D! l g. ^2 ^' I8 H/ Kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! F, E- Q: q8 O2 w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 J3 j( X6 N; i+ y4 d5 E3 z& |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 s7 p* H+ |5 J+ b
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 y' s$ m6 V" N/ g% ~$ N# u; csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 m+ ]% H' F* S7 n5 W
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( y) [+ j- ^' d3 Qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 p& m" j% r" [& ?! r# |9 c3 dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good a2 K1 o) \" m3 V+ \+ B- F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; g9 {6 j# ~, g( ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 {' I: C: X- R% I* }7 xdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 x; G- I- `- Y" I3 @ q HDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 o2 U& {7 `. X+ }4 E+ Sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& G/ @8 i- J0 e1 L2 R5 \& G4 P2 N$ X
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ C- E9 A ]2 f
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 _, T1 F; Y. T% E. B7 S. t
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; o9 V$ a1 P, U" G( N1 y: ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ S/ p. N! A9 B m6 K, W+ h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; \, ]# L4 g. s' }9 _6 rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, L' f; T7 x9 p% t$ Q: p) M: _schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 @6 n+ x' e/ U$ p
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 ^: o9 E; g2 R3 atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch @$ q1 L, ~ S( e7 c; Y& S7 n
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: h: R$ Z& d) G3 F k: Bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want! m( i4 O7 _' v1 L) r+ r C: b: g6 V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! U7 I' U! w% d0 [" Qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ k( _' L& ]( u$ r1 L* t# Zare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 H/ @8 N/ O; Y5 w' O- w% v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ m; k6 h) x6 m y6 ?3 Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! P3 ?; N% _& N$ m0 z" S4 r5 l1 k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' }: E6 Y/ k( V, T2 nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" L7 t2 Z4 \1 d: F6 M* d
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 h. U8 b6 S; R9 u( D7 c1 k# f
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 b! t- I- i9 `8 g* H9 R
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 d1 P5 a9 Q. N: q5 w9 [; w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
l" D5 p p0 }/ | We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
