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+ P- B/ j7 n" f$ h) l% @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 p. z' t. b% zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 N2 v# h0 X* b& G"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ G O8 ?' S* m' e& }answers to our pointed questions.0 V/ v7 p1 a5 K6 F1 W2 R
* w* {+ i- |5 B$ F* d: L5 WThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ S. p: C% ^6 j, S% ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! H' [$ b9 g; z( E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 n2 B- {) n# V
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 k( J9 ~: U0 }
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) K4 K. U A9 A, hmedical schools.2 D! H3 ?2 C! {! b7 Q2 k, ]8 |
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: N* E- I, M* m9 f7 \) g5 @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' v3 ?, F, A: N2 \, B6 v- j% {
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- N( ?' `* k. i" H) O$ m& a
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- x2 _1 d7 H. G1 R7 G) `# F+ V# ?5 Vis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- d0 w0 W x7 k' [! g
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, N+ f- x0 \* L4 ?3 W3 g o+ Mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ a( K8 J. u! t6 O. O- J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" B2 z5 F# M: c8 L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ F1 d5 O; q* F# q. G6 v: W. ?3 D. {
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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7 N; t: A7 H2 @6 {+ q* {The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 ~+ i" g m" h+ ^' ]2 ~% X# I
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ |) F2 \5 b; V8 S) q2 }9 `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( N+ S' L& M6 @have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; h1 \0 \" J& B2 r. S) m ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- b8 A0 ~/ \; f% o3 X# usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 r' O3 H6 {7 W% g5 C" k! J8 P) }divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& f0 y' w2 d0 N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) J i: a7 Q0 S9 Z' G$ y2 \a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( X) Q+ |2 Y) N5 v3 K! }5 L0 X
charge the fee defined by the state.& A" V$ B& m% S. a7 i _) R" Y/ S
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get w7 A! W7 V% k0 D$ u8 R: ?
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
9 M# b$ B6 U; U: v. I" `, Jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( {) D2 O _ y/ Ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; h) Z: k# a$ ?' D9 F, [! T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 T2 H3 Q* P2 }/ ]- ~: }3 _9 R4 `
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& B" _, I) R5 g* `schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, a" P' c1 Q! i* M, Y8 tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* g; r6 Y' D- }$ c$ j2 mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& I" k# X2 c& C1 n/ I1 qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 p3 j# I b& n) ]people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, Q5 G# h7 S! [# a) sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' l5 k! V8 r8 A& [3 ?1 R
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% }( d" X* c) P0 N2 m6 m. m1 L; [
are spaces.
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: I2 p1 e+ f+ O0 \There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) u5 Y* _2 E; w/ K, k3 B+ y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 A3 b: Y7 t2 f5 g& J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& }. y0 _, |# P4 s8 I, [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; Z4 ~/ l' E0 I. r' u: I, f5 j
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% [! y2 C a/ I& B7 h
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
, r% q) R% a: L: q0 V5 w: Unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) X1 n/ p7 X8 K, v( T. Kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 J) l( h) |0 |, p0 z8 ^
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ \) N4 [/ ^$ H$ A: T$ V% y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
