我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 Q0 V1 d" Y8 g& N9 }6 A3 C
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- }( m! m% h6 |7 b( t
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# \/ c" D" }7 y* N"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give W( \9 z* w$ |" n# J# }
answers to our pointed questions.
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& e7 S9 w+ [3 ]# M/ BThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 J# p# b0 T0 j. C" Y# b9 D* I
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% N! c2 i. U; g) k8 t6 o2 X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% o* x3 J/ Y, s# j7 Q3 E Wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! x- B8 C* w- [3 R1 q' ?9 R. |to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ {& F Y, n7 Y e* Gmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 i2 a+ u, r+ c0 y! W3 v* H/ L$ a% k
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* d' Y0 A2 _- y3 D9 {. N w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' C, k9 Z/ Q' J/ }. Xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- V8 @9 a" k8 c* [! ]
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 N7 D- q$ B' [, b- W' f
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 `" i7 X( I7 D1 {' M9 v; V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 `* T, S: w! ~: u& w& h; p2 Jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" \' Y; P* \ R& b. w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 }3 j1 i# O- u) g1 m/ q: W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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7 w8 }' C" Z3 g7 [# n$ TThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! O' e, x2 \3 Z' ~, ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: g6 _3 X% ]4 K! C/ o xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* r& _3 q$ D& ]$ \7 w) R% khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 M* p6 z6 [& z! C+ N3 K
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ G! ?( w9 s% U4 o9 i8 asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 D/ A! ?, a9 U! C! n) T9 P9 ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# c: A, v1 z, }: e7 i% g
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% `1 c7 u7 t8 Ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* n$ l; Q( N0 |- r' acharge the fee defined by the state. J; Y; }; w, A6 [
2 L- Y: ^* [/ `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 R4 }1 V/ q: x2 Z0 t' g1 B/ j& Yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# B! C& b& [* R# I" ?' i% w4 S
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ o+ H! k, ]7 ]( r, z+ b- p4 n4 Qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! E, p) b% W& r u& u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% K) S# U8 b$ J6 Q; z+ e; aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" ]8 s" ?+ ] n$ K1 ~5 X; w
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 c" e$ W5 W8 T6 _. gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% K& Q/ N6 \1 t
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 g/ B1 Q; k4 e* v, X0 r# w3 fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: e- ]. S) \) p( U. L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ H2 r9 I5 w B5 I5 h6 E$ _2 x6 oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! _( @: | ~5 k. `( t4 w8 ybuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 T* Z; W+ o& ?- ^) [
are spaces.
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2 }( @6 u* B5 g- N8 fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: U" ]# c0 j8 Q R* w- z' u5 oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
0 a) b- J' E* g: h1 a! down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" k9 w+ J0 t7 k+ P \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 ]% ~+ L4 g3 S' i0 D5 bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) \& H6 v6 }+ K5 f' q+ Q% n7 V8 ?7 Cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 D9 r$ u* ^9 X& ^$ S" S; H7 Vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" x% [ [- k! H! _2 ~) y& e
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! `4 P$ k; I4 H/ p& {. C4 x; Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. [4 x: x# x( i We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
