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
1 }. \: m7 G, C4 a) ^+ Hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, [( l' q2 p `/ h" @4 [on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 v% k4 q0 ^. T9 Y$ R8 L4 e
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 R3 M/ K1 s/ Z: d2 l! T) ~
answers to our pointed questions.' O; A: A$ M$ d! L! ]
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# m2 h! C+ b% P5 ~+ z( _! S45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ Y/ J/ D8 p1 h6 l5 `% s. ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ s& m0 } Z C! o& g5 U" Z& vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
7 S% H Z7 r7 w5 U# i' [to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 Y* |% [; ?: V& kmedical schools.& h" J! S2 \3 V$ b; z" }9 c$ R
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ B- D8 k- v$ Z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 O) ^! F; J# G+ Y9 [) [% ^to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 o5 P+ ?8 z$ i2 i7 }' S7 sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ ^( j0 Q9 i$ P; [is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ ~ D' p. _" w( X' n/ q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
+ n1 b+ R; ?, ]( ] T' z! Xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and o3 A5 L7 z9 \; S/ T
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ d; C u& B: U. d+ ~6 jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some, W, d0 n* B% u1 u% x
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# ~8 C( o# T: Y7 O1 i- Hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 K# L# a$ b6 z" R8 @2 Ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 |5 W" p3 u! B+ U8 chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& D7 A0 \* M6 h. T* v9 i5 i6 f8 qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, l' T7 Z( y! lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 I/ N. T- `. s- n2 H x% }& `7 d. jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 `1 }9 M3 W, y6 z. Y2 }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& `& ]+ v; W5 Wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& d4 z; a E# {$ M; F
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 w; w4 S" y/ G5 d# a5 Q+ qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' j& A( }! X( ~: G9 x+ K) tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ G9 _( |! X/ {6 k$ n2 c. ?) G- }truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( x$ J. I7 \( q# ^* ]6 }1 [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ v# o: L: ]3 d$ eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 i# R/ z/ h/ O: h# jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 c! Y2 S, V9 T5 `' nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ _6 P$ z% }+ W
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' Q1 A: p) Z& F7 Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that I* g- N. o a7 n$ Y3 B! r
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: h" E2 w! ~9 f+ {
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 `% {) t( S$ x* \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there N: a% M& ~; H t( }( j3 G
are spaces. A/ e, e9 y* e( i# l/ S& W
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 l! c% v$ S5 H1 }9 uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 k* t) p+ A" L P. B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: F1 V0 w7 V O% j( k, k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. r4 z* ]( J" }% s6 `
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the b& d( }3 d3 `9 m( L# N% r! J; ^
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& h9 H" v a5 f- K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' D7 W4 ?0 |( f0 t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% x4 o r# j* C3 e8 \is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 Z6 o$ J, k/ i; Y( u- c& ` We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
