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
: Z+ }+ X9 E" I2 J4 G9 ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) C; }; E+ p6 Z& l( o
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" Z- W- n" J9 o$ G$ U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! W3 ?+ O8 p1 d" ]; s0 h
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& b2 j" F- D8 n7 L+ r2 ~" J45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 y) b; g u0 k+ D7 T
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& }. C9 P" y: D! b2 }3 V( J3 X
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 ~6 F% H- F* j
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: j6 O' Z% G2 W) x, [
medical schools.
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A, L1 h% Y1 ?; bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& {; C" l& F$ Y, ]0 @* O, y8 \2 U
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& Z3 ?* p$ y) I* o6 l6 F% @9 Wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 {: p2 u8 O# r. x P z- L! Cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ S+ [1 h/ Q, ? _4 Y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 X( o& _. k! H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 e- `2 ]: w# R; nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 G8 h" P6 U" A9 Q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ B% l4 G9 k* Zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some" x# Q, R }& k% D) D# \. C" }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., Q; Y" @) O9 n/ ^/ t
7 u# |5 L6 v3 `9 o6 Y1 z* tThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# ~& {& D ~# f6 u
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! N8 x9 G* j9 _( P, nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! P( K: q+ [0 y; F% c+ n2 lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% S6 v' E$ G6 B% Athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby m! |8 b3 a# Y( t% @) x2 p
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ C3 `% y s- Ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 T/ w1 i, T5 l- K* @
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 F+ }9 o5 D% @8 B$ y. O+ |
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# d$ S- a, C) z9 @3 E9 Wcharge the fee defined by the state.0 Q5 i- a$ A1 s- S6 r, ?
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 e: A7 Y: z) ~* v- p. t) i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 F$ E- T/ f9 x( c7 ?: a0 W- x$ Uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 N& e2 K$ n+ H' m% {
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ W7 _5 K8 u) s0 i$ h1 v k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- z& U2 D D* D' Y8 B: |working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' l' b- j, A& z- _schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' O f) i' O' Y6 Y; {you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ j) v* k% K- }4 wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch L, O: D, U0 j: w& ]4 u' z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" T$ D, ?5 @! S% fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, R% ]: F0 @9 v" S4 c: U! G2 d- I
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 Z D) d8 q/ Gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, ~) `6 K9 j+ T8 y& c4 v9 M
are spaces.6 f# S! X0 J8 W
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
p- z4 s: f6 `5 Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% P8 A9 b* E0 ]& V0 Z- cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# [5 M* B2 I" g$ i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 ]# U+ w9 m" ^# {& b# s$ w; W
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 d* ~$ V/ y- u6 W1 ]! O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 o! b1 |9 } k: p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& ]1 a1 n5 O6 g" B% ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& @( U& H2 g% Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ O$ U; |% P, ~& n We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
