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$ r6 A& J' S7 c/ M; F, r& \
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# O1 F2 B4 z8 y" P9 j3 }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 u: }& \7 O' W" ^) C& @9 ?"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 G/ ]2 E$ k, b2 \0 w: B5 |answers to our pointed questions.
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3 g$ ~# {1 o! J" H4 P" UThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# E& i+ |& } U* ]" n, u* q% A45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! ^+ P+ H) _$ @# @out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 ?) H6 H9 Y3 s1 _5 S
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) Q, G1 X4 s: V0 E5 u0 n/ }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: @( f8 j! s! a
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, z- i% e; ~9 |government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants U% I# f9 U/ n6 J( g! v" j# f
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ |0 X4 G- D2 T* ~8 ]- c1 k' J
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 m9 a5 y$ [1 p
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( V8 J5 ~1 ^8 V' s% e# F" Z: S7 Zover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: |; n2 f1 b, S5 |" E8 E/ F$ K( U
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- x' X5 ]3 t$ D y _+ w
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ b( p$ j; { P% ^2 m. k+ L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ A! s+ u' o: ~- x5 U; s- z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ X$ z+ B# o& X I- E6 B0 fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' X O2 J8 w- _4 W" j1 m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) q. v3 o D* Dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ q$ w1 Q- H4 S- L
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' ?9 |0 K3 ]8 m' n, Q9 u8 z$ u
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) O. t/ D, T& n: }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% g- B$ F: M1 EDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& r1 I$ z: _: M4 D! ` ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 Q+ E$ o- z' H5 l( ncharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 \& `4 z* f% |on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 m, j7 W# X) L7 Q M9 ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& n; H& U3 H5 o( o: c- ?+ W+ t% o. n
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' d0 U; ]+ X) k" \7 P" i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ j0 P+ L/ M/ x/ M5 Cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; _3 w6 U6 U: F+ o4 d) {
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 d- f5 ^9 `# h" Y& X) F7 g2 b; c
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" q( _# y" |6 V: @* X- y% B5 p
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! L9 C c+ m6 b0 ~3 L8 V1 Fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ L, h! W. ]0 h6 S) U% z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" [- M* f0 x, H( A, rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( W6 H8 e5 E. l0 obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; t' b# J5 S9 Hare spaces.1 Y6 y4 K# _0 A
, k! w( j' O4 s. V3 u8 IThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ |# k/ D+ G; A$ y8 i9 Q4 Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( w" i: x: `* w: N
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( L+ w) E$ o+ C' h) D) }: b40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ D2 @% R3 F5 d/ t/ x8 g
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! s4 W( | A1 q) ]( h- u" f U+ [best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* w, h/ [1 u0 q" O- Y3 i4 r b+ Unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 |3 h6 J A# U& H
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" t; A A8 `8 N1 K n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 {/ c( p; g0 s& H$ R0 d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
