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
) T6 h( _( T0 h4 @. j9 Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( n/ N: \8 a' g' a9 k
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) X1 f4 w$ _4 K/ t6 [& k* B7 J" j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! G5 j: t5 q0 L( h+ d5 v
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. {1 d3 [# i( o# ?$ b+ ]45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 v, k3 Y8 {! S7 `out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* {. P& J% U3 S& ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& ]% e, j: d: m) c& L% Sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ {9 w& {. g5 |$ X3 E
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 [7 L7 F% q$ Z3 c! ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 O- x. x" P c# ]2 C4 Ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% e. b& M6 h' m: |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, W3 k7 t N6 W; K/ U2 |: O' qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 \/ ]0 z# c: }+ J" s% g6 k6 }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" z8 \9 X3 l; q- h6 Q3 W
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( E4 ]7 e$ ^# C- C& ]mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 h" Y) I' A2 A! K" u2 W2 L" m4 yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some" e7 s5 R8 L& v+ u# \( D0 H. c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 t* K6 x- M- {( x: X; {
2 W. _& E3 h: Z2 A- Q" g8 Z( ^) Q9 ^The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) Q" @. [6 G3 D9 Y9 b
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 J- W/ Q7 I5 q) L8 y L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 P+ m+ n- R3 s p7 k
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! p. |, u! S9 v4 h X; T/ t, ?thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% ^# B5 Y: T' T+ | T( P
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! t$ t2 L( h( X) Pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) {: O4 E' h- s& D9 M) {. t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 i- n' H F9 x4 w: Y. ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, s N+ \( c6 ^* b) F- A, u3 Y
charge the fee defined by the state.
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9 E- z. Z" O: r1 \6 _There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ R( a0 o) d1 N5 c5 i& ^" son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 y5 L# Y3 E1 |3 e+ e8 F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 N* V/ v4 z" c& i- N1 R
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 L) D- x7 A# R3 k5 D8 m# K$ O
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% C b" r+ i: V8 f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 D2 k3 f' J3 F* w5 E( K3 b
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 X+ y' P- w2 U3 M
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& ~% o) K3 s I- E; u: k" {trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" c+ f" b; s, L, u( Z6 s, B
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, t. e) H/ f( l) ?+ j- l: j) t. G/ }people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) M$ h# b( R" z) u6 U. H* m+ q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ t7 D- X' R& q' Z$ Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! y B/ _2 U/ @* v9 t8 [are spaces.
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/ g2 H8 E: |& l. O. p# kThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, W# \' |' Z- @ Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% W! a4 a8 r/ U- n$ m! k' h# W
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; O _% O- u0 _' M) S$ m/ ~40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" V" x B! J# dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ m, U' s) s9 D; x# @
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 i3 Q$ o! a* {: ]& Y: Mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 n% O$ r8 ], d& c9 @6 ?
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# M& G8 k7 z2 J8 Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. U( { f, @& X2 u5 w We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
