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 I1 z" W9 e6 r) m0 x- f; C+ x
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ E; }8 u3 Y# W$ B) C6 P" [) q5 Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 u& Z# p/ K0 J"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
H d' m f4 k7 Ranswers to our pointed questions.
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6 s: `% c! N1 J" Y' J" C9 NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 f n( D; i# N P6 ^45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. D( |$ d5 f- l2 Fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
X% @) w. i+ V* Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' C& r1 W2 I' { s4 p
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% ]9 s/ T! e, ?; z) L0 ^2 c4 L
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! t+ G/ E/ u3 o) w/ S( v7 P0 kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! L6 _" U# c; ^' Z- X
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 M9 e, R) I, d- Y) s* vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 P- e) F6 R/ M; G5 X: m! K+ j. |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 g9 u& X+ t& F3 c3 _
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; w$ k4 G: `( T4 }seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 D# ?2 m) L2 ~* r8 K5 K0 B* z. nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" e$ @9 Z N Bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 {4 y) q9 }2 [3 a w: A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% Y& j& m! V3 b2 v. \) L" O
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ i% G3 l* B, r- E+ C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; v; X2 j8 }, Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 [( `8 Q- f. K t$ nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 t3 X# Z2 u( t% b1 F" B/ Z4 ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 \, b7 {6 H, D5 R1 m& Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 h6 `8 l) a' C$ O3 eDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 a, V6 m% E4 X
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. [# v# j: h& V+ ~9 T
charge the fee defined by the state.
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! x7 c( R, R$ T# QThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- k2 T- E/ | y2 f+ v3 z) E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 |2 |, n; J4 d* B+ t* J
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( h; ^ z; H6 N' m0 G& O: Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ C0 O8 M. O8 wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( b9 c1 M! |! ^. T! k& w0 b% j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 O7 V$ G& w, ?% U4 n4 K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 g# }+ ~- G+ T; Q0 l
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 v1 y7 a& T# L3 I7 Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& B2 {/ P' v- _& n" p/ G9 ? Ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ `: r/ q" S5 k! ?& e1 Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; m) B$ q3 X1 Z! k/ E! m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
K) k! K2 R$ kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 Z. `+ I/ b% C' Eare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; N2 G K) {" g1 w0 Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& }' v% |% o' S6 ^own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 T1 i; w. a2 x/ `, ?0 O# ~40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 R8 W4 d7 T% s. ?( L+ V; h$ Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) k' g n Z( ~% R6 Y2 u* X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' ^9 \" r$ ~) x; h. u& n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: [" S/ `; o8 _3 G: \3 [( Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' \# }, z6 o# O _: J0 s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 T# M& \. k1 v; m* D" s& b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
