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
" d/ w' Y& g, N% I; F, Z6 J3 p4 [9 vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 D' z) Q: l5 R) y7 ^
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; r4 K+ h, h: k"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( M$ _( Z Q+ k; A; u$ v; Zanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 Y- H) t0 f) Y/ N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ @. W. ]! o8 U7 s2 I4 C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: C! w @! O2 S/ l5 A
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" S4 G0 i0 V& _" R) T
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 Q9 o! U; h, k# I1 n
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% m5 ?9 p, a) ?$ K, i8 M+ Q1 l# rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 g3 A$ w& I; u( D. M9 E, sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 O9 q' @( U9 I; aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 \0 l% I& Y' k& B& t" kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: k% A, L8 B% u+ x( J& U
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! e$ e+ [. x% F$ x2 bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: i$ M M4 ]7 }" W9 |
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 O9 M1 U# |( V- S" M' z$ ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some" E, }: Z# g$ v* a! f
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ s9 p, g! D' N" p8 K5 r
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- q% v3 l: @1 v9 u
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ I% W. Y7 r# Z$ s' osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 ?! i$ ^) p4 M4 Q* whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) q1 C/ w; w7 C! R/ v, x
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 x/ c6 Q6 \7 T! _6 ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 o8 ?9 R" Z2 y2 _% x* _* e
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' ^2 A$ m" s9 a% J# B# z2 K' b" @
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' G* h$ E* j! M1 q% Z) \/ q9 M4 i
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, K/ ]( h% n1 j( v# U! j3 o& b. tcharge the fee defined by the state.
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$ w5 q) u6 T& r" W: v0 O( jThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get9 l4 q$ ]0 _8 w' `3 ?
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 \1 t3 X8 M" k1 Q; A$ zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& h* ]1 R8 f* B% p/ R
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ Z& d2 c% A( r$ Y. h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: P0 j/ ~# B, K3 _0 F+ q( L; k. ?8 x
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: P+ w( v+ \; [" y5 e+ H+ a d! vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ L3 w' h6 k' f" s2 v3 k
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 J$ B$ V5 W9 n( Q5 g. S
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 U ?7 }! b1 `0 R
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 x4 s* o+ X0 f" L# g: U- N: Ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 k {1 @4 V% j2 d3 Nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. T* d' E1 f, }$ U% K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 w9 x, @: I3 `( T! ]
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 S7 W# O# b/ m
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ i- s, s% Q( I# f7 j5 c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; d0 h; {* E! k- \3 x( a" n( K40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 ~* b6 i) ~% _% l! u# h
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. V9 a- E: }4 t2 n( c4 `! q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. K) X0 p3 G/ [# @" E6 b) l5 z6 unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 r5 `9 m, t# [9 I) Ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it Z& ]! q7 W5 O: }8 J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 k8 O h2 f$ N. F4 A We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
