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
, L3 P0 Q: i' w" {0 m/ M5 dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 d1 ?+ r3 ^6 |" `' }) [on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 p% X/ H0 Q. O
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; a' V4 x* G; z0 H5 oanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 l1 S2 W3 |% n- ^4 U45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; N5 {5 {" w$ Y! P2 h' J* N+ v1 R
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( h' L7 E+ B! ]! K7 [* ?free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( J* |8 }: Z. }% \to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
* v7 g. q* m0 B" ]! i, ymedical schools.3 r! S2 |( T3 N3 l
+ _1 Q \9 Q# N! tEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the l7 W, U1 o/ t8 A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ L, w/ o1 @8 E# ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 Y6 ]" O2 X1 l' tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
: t0 {+ Y2 U6 C1 e; {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) t, [. w! H+ L1 ^+ a4 q( d& u
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There |2 ]5 i* H T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, W; g$ x9 c3 [4 }, F! s; _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% A7 [+ v- Q, I/ X0 ?$ E5 P
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( }; D" y( b0 a0 x6 W, nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, D! S( s( @2 X0 W9 \$ @The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ n% n& ?& q8 T. I0 ~( v4 s0 Pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; i% R1 y6 i( Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# @' a! I: P: j* }
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 Q: t( G( a% `" j% z1 L* P
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, Z6 T, n4 P, `. M6 z% U4 Z6 _1 gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 N; T# D2 q4 z. a; z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 C* T m9 ~/ G3 F; i3 V' FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) D; {' j9 F8 La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" i* r1 N, a( ~/ Z
charge the fee defined by the state.: D0 n# V( B& x6 i
+ d4 w- c: N3 c5 g& y# [$ o- K4 pThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; T- a0 r6 L. @/ y% fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ B2 N% ^7 t* F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 P. |: Q' D4 X' v
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
! q& `1 k. y1 `; [seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- C" B& I. V3 M/ U, Wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% P) h; Z5 t9 D9 ~# A. ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& _! U5 u3 X s* w& d/ T, D
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
" W; ?2 {) D# Q/ v, f% ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ d1 w* q% @$ ]8 Y% f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that T: ]! i7 _0 \- P c* `
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ Z% m1 _/ i& B1 w
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( }4 R3 @7 J5 v% E0 mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* n5 a8 Z" g& C" _! v
are spaces.5 F( n$ e5 Y$ g
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 T8 m, }( g2 N+ [0 _- q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 ~- y7 T: ~' `2 a4 j) x3 y% Y, m- W
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 A$ u5 R/ L$ X: M4 c# \8 s* I
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ x9 H$ x! k. r9 M) G
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# d4 Z2 X6 ~4 O8 Pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* x; F9 g' m/ h1 Z0 B7 e7 i3 b
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 ^7 X& H+ k$ U+ m4 B; ]: Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! O3 z( }; E& Y# |, o. y4 ]( o. W( `
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* ?6 @- z9 B: \" i6 f( i3 M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
