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
# q: u+ A0 \2 a6 E! Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- i6 m. V8 W3 F" m e: s" t
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 ]! `# y3 K( e8 B9 q! y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 F) L; Y" Y* Y) [- t
answers to our pointed questions.
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, H; X. i o0 O% J' QThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; X4 f) {+ c' p( H: X
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 X! q8 f9 a2 k1 u# Q' E1 ?out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( U8 ~& u; A, y" W, v
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' j2 c0 D7 e8 b
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# Z0 Q) r; N: c6 `7 V/ Bmedical schools.! o8 U% _ y) |* z6 n
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' k' K% t" R2 X2 _5 O* |government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 e5 L7 K5 d" W* g Bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" `% n( o6 ~1 ~( `2 O$ C: T) q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! ^6 S- N1 ]! O. Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, ~5 m5 Z* j+ S; y" m
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
) s5 b* q5 b- b, Z2 w& @; aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ d2 s4 @" v0 F9 Y, c3 pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 V, k! q- |: I' |! t" yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some& k1 d0 y7 q8 t' w$ r
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* F6 `+ r# u2 l8 t) E( L' K
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% E2 p' K Q: d3 Z P
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 i- c6 q; Z7 {& a2 H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 {! h( v/ S6 O- T( k5 A
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; O4 E1 h5 u3 U& `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! y" t# Z* Q9 D7 ]% C! Q$ V: K0 U6 w/ Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! F3 p1 {8 M0 v+ tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% s; c9 A, `* r* Y% @
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, Q9 X- n9 O/ V5 c% Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" L3 t* k4 y5 B6 a. B" R
charge the fee defined by the state.
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$ j1 Z. V F: I' `8 C/ Y1 GThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# Z O( i1 k$ d% Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ E! c! t. J0 l, ^# Uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: K, |+ @/ W7 Q5 D K4 [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" k8 t4 L+ |& `+ p6 Useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! z! C, z# g7 f( c6 L' v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* @0 c0 L1 a, d C' o& hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ F+ p4 k1 @! t2 l
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ w7 d( P' m0 ~2 W6 [; F; ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ Y# ~8 O8 E# A nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. q7 \( I0 C4 E5 X5 Rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: ?9 y, o& H7 W. @( K* F
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, J. }8 |% U+ }) D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there" ]6 I ? [# Q5 a* u3 z3 d
are spaces.) G4 } R; K& H. Y! x
2 `/ M4 }, V( JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 Q% l- |% l) z* u4 M4 x% i) |+ n
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& Z( _* `* x6 b) Y6 bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 V' F7 I& n1 _0 k40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 J6 L2 x8 u! M( |% {8 u2 K$ E3 y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 y1 l Q# K" t4 Y$ B
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 d- z2 G/ i- b+ f1 Y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
\/ k$ C( |1 N& y" Acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ }1 @$ Z7 h: b x0 h$ M) M$ r6 v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. \6 }% r' h% c) _
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
