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
8 w! f8 E* Y& f: @, F: f$ Pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* S+ |3 q* N, I5 h( |
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ S, d/ R0 T5 w* o0 J2 ^
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: ~: z% Y0 Y$ q8 N0 N5 a
answers to our pointed questions.
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# z1 v# _# Q! z. X' bThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* z* `! {" H. L7 ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% j& Q8 e: D- |% R [# sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
8 }. c( z- l% R+ e5 ]! Xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: A0 j' P) j- F% j8 r
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; V/ g# A3 F# G" h1 V" l U# M9 Z
medical schools.( n$ i& U' q/ k, N {
! j6 q3 }$ `6 {5 |" @Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( G) e6 n& [# ~, n2 F9 O5 Qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants" ^8 Z" \1 u# x! o7 i* c
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
D+ I# z5 Q! G; Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 ^6 ?& D7 o% M# g& m' Q7 v$ m
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. f5 P, z, `3 v5 j7 N, Z3 v) s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ o" `: N% m0 ?: N# Y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& w+ A: H! R, k% M- n& W0 h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 @6 {+ f+ u. U, X5 _; @; `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& e# T) ~4 C! A+ msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( y7 F5 O& F- ^' j" eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 o9 L. s4 h/ \" @ C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ q# S4 C3 G& z& ^: [have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
P: P) W; Q( O2 z. c& [- Y t" gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; f% z& E0 R% z: _/ R3 a3 Y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
8 h$ ~2 N3 n0 h* M5 \/ wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 @+ I/ o6 g" j" ZDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* \( V( [9 t; E; u8 @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! ^% v- V: V' w; f$ c
charge the fee defined by the state./ r1 d/ q, H3 N% \5 j
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# ^7 n- {8 N3 P/ V
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( P/ U, W n* k7 [1 s F0 a* Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 t; y" {# g' S8 x, J. C1 }+ ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* s1 b3 {) J6 C0 S& v( T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; T& R$ S/ M" [, w# H0 Kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# f$ L. J+ m; v. v7 q0 i2 u/ M3 e
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: g6 A3 M7 G9 U8 t- S+ D) Lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% B' X4 i+ i; N: J% n. m1 dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 q- G5 }' }, A- J& K1 C: E7 b7 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
# e& b+ L; Z9 p& R s( `# M& p0 cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, J; P- ?4 p9 N# T) S
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" ]1 U$ j8 m+ Q- M' p9 x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& c0 A `8 \2 s) U9 b4 u: z3 `) C& gare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 Z$ J+ r8 ?0 f4 q. o I% Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 O: x: {( k+ F& }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ {2 }* ?, I0 m
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ W1 r/ j1 b) l7 }* U$ Fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. v- O% b0 L' S0 P$ K- S- t! l8 `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% t+ K$ n: N8 _4 F) F& c4 knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 X* A+ j% h$ _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 K' q& i; o. y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* }; a+ f0 @- Y8 J+ l. @5 Z5 a
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
