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
0 U& D. m/ f7 w2 ]- m( wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 m. V( ^9 L5 ~) H0 m! s9 _
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: p# }3 M2 W2 Q6 T- E$ v: d
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* x2 y* V) s) h. m5 Kanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# j3 d! O* Z( r9 A h
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: T8 S$ [7 ^, f2 t+ A3 Nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% L/ w6 R7 i) d% n
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' c( X4 M `6 U# Oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" _8 }3 F7 e" F3 T' y* F7 @- P0 u
medical schools.
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4 Q' M5 S+ ^" P* u8 w3 bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
B0 P+ t V6 d5 rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; Y; I+ z/ X' e V1 L! J% Eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 j* N* M8 `1 g) F; C% v
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 n8 i) }' y* S' m; H& Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! q6 D- j# n3 n4 d8 } p7 e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: h! K# v; d; o1 L0 V! `seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# N+ P" J) X( }2 L- B/ e4 b nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: b' h# z$ H8 `/ ]. C# p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' `. X% T# Q2 S) A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., ]; }: ]7 {9 D; M( y
6 J' o; Y0 W' B7 zThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
3 B0 H8 ~4 w# S% y* d6 ]private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% ~) e' L6 Q6 M6 h- z: F' Zsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* y9 f1 z9 q Z9 p& H5 S9 O. V
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) A3 v, ?3 }, v" y& h& Kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( L' V! V7 V& r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' a+ p- X) h, [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& E( }+ u) D7 m) a" Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- h9 }8 p2 t: i( O+ N9 t" V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ T9 w- _1 K5 H5 c o0 v$ Dcharge the fee defined by the state.: q# P) L v X8 z) `2 O
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 g5 k" Z% _2 mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! M* A! [: R4 f% T, _of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. |! C" S& ?& ]. K+ k
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- Q, y# N2 X+ W$ P
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. f% z6 G) s4 ~8 D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) Y& k4 {6 I4 ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. T' `; P l; l" W4 m3 f! xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* [! R' e& [0 A7 p' {; B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 a7 z6 _+ H: E5 Q/ n# r! y1 {: N% {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! d! [0 \0 O7 e8 u6 \7 T, ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 q# W. @3 r U/ dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; r0 p7 d( Z5 A+ i9 p3 u( {4 m
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' K9 l" y1 ]. H* }9 [8 j5 W+ {
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 b5 b! d( X- r7 J6 q1 y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 _2 R% _% z6 o# ?
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, ^7 q4 D' u& d: R4 C: m5 p40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" P0 y& Y0 q! }# cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 \ x& u. r! ], E2 Z- u3 o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* n9 e) W$ C. {0 n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of t4 i" ]1 g3 l2 T; v3 x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ w( v |5 f0 ]& w6 v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* J4 G7 s2 ~, U6 R' ]! Q# E, ] We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
