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
m5 x, Q6 R6 W. q1 kstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ ^! F6 f. H6 qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( x0 u! {" E$ k/ H5 m/ T/ D3 V# ~
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 G) l5 K" T+ C8 \' }
answers to our pointed questions.
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* D# N' ^ \. B. v5 ]) T7 b3 j$ d C1 @The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% V/ c/ I6 s9 P% n# V
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* |" c! j" V, B4 T5 q* i% b- xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" p) n4 ?+ [! n) |
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ d# k8 C' \, i0 T% @1 |& Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, L% R/ b! W& E1 {) U: `- [
medical schools.# B6 m1 b* E# `$ n6 O' \8 F d
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the V) {# A) _9 U3 e- c/ P; {
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. ~ }1 _ n1 V; ^/ q# v) ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: k; b; H% w6 F% a4 x P: d
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# {; P: G) h7 E2 C! N4 \) ~: d" z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) B# x# R- o- N
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, r% j' G7 |) L4 M @- D0 |
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) p) g$ z! v2 d; g/ o2 s0 E; l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( m8 o, t$ _/ [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 J) q' }$ t' A1 T
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- i' o9 D# p D1 n' l# Z7 r3 u% s
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) P) x9 c$ e) }$ H+ vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 V, f) U2 d, B! A" H1 ?" m
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# m$ h7 E! x5 j6 jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 P& q7 }# S1 x4 ^1 [/ E" U/ }* M4 Q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, n, l4 N u4 ?3 D- T# L
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 b: k1 A) h! e- e' EDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ F1 W7 z! y% v; O7 e
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 R- n; F) Z! Q! m% O6 s' }' z5 g4 n
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: }+ o' r+ y& p/ Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* m0 `6 e0 U, w, x
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# C% K; C) `- Z2 w5 c4 Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 \. L2 |" `( B2 d: L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# s1 I0 f) x3 M6 Z* U7 ~0 J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 h) f c% Q, l# n1 V8 b
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 [8 A0 k$ H- U) t. B6 m# Yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( D; |& ]0 O8 W4 ]
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 z+ h, ~3 H( Ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- l# D% W: [# u4 npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, N/ x) R3 l( k
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* \4 i+ _) j+ }2 c: h, j% Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 K& z/ t& [ f& _$ |) i
are spaces.% U* \+ c8 A# N. q* J- X$ Z s8 C
% @( s1 O8 I3 l! i6 i9 bThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& c( o) A5 J! c/ D- x+ O8 u1 k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( B' K' n+ ?: E3 c+ N0 V$ \( P: r Vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 v2 m8 X0 i" |. t* O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 a& r$ J2 l9 X# V/ a( J" N8 ~
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 {& ]/ s8 [- G. M8 s9 W9 }+ mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
: e( K: c7 ]3 ^. K6 r+ tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, J/ \' w0 V6 M2 o8 U( Bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- y3 d* z- k& j7 p5 xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, R2 @# |2 q1 U) V We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
