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% G0 F5 ]% m' Z q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) l& o# J* [! ~) j% D
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: l; Q3 Y; U* ? [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 i3 F4 z& J- C! u3 I
answers to our pointed questions.
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+ ?% l6 m/ D. p" \5 XThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% ]# D1 K. u# [
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, v m1 }; b# c# ^% x0 T9 R5 E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" u2 n' ]9 H5 Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams l, z8 W% |1 V- q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) [6 v4 I! T4 j* }
medical schools.$ }$ ?1 e# q! w9 p( I+ w: N
& E; e$ N& L' B7 L% V( U8 hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 }( a0 w. {3 x* R' Hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ i2 G6 f- l" C4 W: \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) r; k3 Q/ W! L6 t wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" c) ~# i/ U" H1 H( t7 Y# Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
& n% Z% T, K, \! yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 j4 z* U0 c v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ F9 c; ~& Y4 \- R* imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
r6 N! m7 b0 G5 c/ zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some }, _% ]4 d7 S0 t( W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 l+ K. R, i, x3 P' K" D$ n. ]
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* j) R5 l3 ?! e4 i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 `* u1 Y. R3 M' Asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; f U% M! e9 b/ c2 ]
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ ~4 G9 y$ L1 b/ F0 H4 Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ |: T, Y- [, s2 \, X& X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 i% J' [/ Q1 |2 b( _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) P3 P) t- \- X; ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
t' }* e' h* a8 r6 H. \a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& q# S0 i: ^2 o& ^# H5 ucharge the fee defined by the state., G( k0 p7 T8 C% v2 I/ r8 }
2 r# ]/ N; T) F: K9 B/ F; o4 `: z; M; XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# ~3 p4 Q( P+ S. q; n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. W% ? L' V+ Q% ^8 k7 c- Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' Y$ x' A% v6 u6 k5 i# dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 ]7 Q- |7 |" D. H( K3 o; Y6 u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: q$ |% k$ H3 @) eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* r* d8 ^1 Z. P E8 h# q2 O! h
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! x5 }! v( b" ?+ m7 O$ c3 o4 ~you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& W6 p1 w# a9 b0 ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' c s& {: w- b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& l( u7 o% {8 m8 a7 ^people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 p7 B8 x$ B% z% z0 f4 vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- K O$ q) _+ p3 s9 k5 |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( i& `" I( R/ n$ tare spaces.
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6 c9 D: g$ Q& [* u9 l/ K" kThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! y* ]9 Q$ ^& R6 V, V! U& l8 N; y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) V5 \- \+ T& q( town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 B- u7 D n5 w# ]0 N. h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 s; [6 ]) A/ ?" } \0 q( b ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% U# R! K; m: Q+ ?9 r+ f4 s1 ]best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 K8 q, d, x- B7 F/ n. [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ k) R/ _+ @* k' i
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ ~. ^& ]+ N0 O6 Gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ L/ \% u" @! Y( o7 S$ d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
