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
$ g. d1 k3 T- U' L1 A; P& Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! f' A+ W- ~* _4 n/ q: v
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ u- @6 ]+ `/ }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 }0 W( @/ B' ~
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ Z- N" }6 t3 E) d1 O45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" d$ s7 z' T$ B- tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) ]& l7 q1 t! j+ \6 b3 G
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& s A/ f! W3 A5 ?! [/ gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 I1 h' A0 j1 s# q$ ]medical schools.5 O" y3 T6 l: q* Z* \$ m
6 g: c. k1 y( P- W6 h L& CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
1 i- O% l' Q$ H& N5 J' Sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* s( H0 h( c0 q
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
h8 x" V# O( d8 d" aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 \+ m- o0 r6 ?& nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ C$ K8 |" w: O3 T/ p; c2 Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 P/ }- R1 Z# f+ Y8 q$ }# E
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, P! e' X3 K' I1 Y# E+ n7 `1 f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; i. B' |8 M. g# ]0 J" ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some& O' r4 W6 n- [1 w
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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- W' s0 }5 o* q( G* J. {; {The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& w" ?' T! F3 J" x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; B) ]7 v5 S- k' C& Nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 M. c/ W- n5 D( |
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. }1 `' r; {8 _2 W. x! a/ Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 C* M+ i7 n, J- \2 U3 }! Y: T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; T% Q! v0 E% W, l" T# ]divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 s0 m5 E: R" }" `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! z4 a F; M2 k% @# s0 q, Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) g" X8 n' l% K% _) p- E& j+ r, @/ d
charge the fee defined by the state.5 e( \: U' _" |6 w' n5 q
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- k9 ~0 `0 m& e+ F: Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! g/ x* G5 P: p; G* K6 Z8 Y x9 Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. k, B J4 J, k1 R( \$ E
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 A' B# t1 c; T0 pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 \% r2 N& S: ?: j. f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ E' h" ^( h! k) a0 L
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- N$ J8 e* O- S4 w1 z: w! E5 x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
$ y* l; k3 r3 Ktrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 `. L1 ?' w! Yhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. S) {) {/ {/ d( T2 R' H1 Rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 R; h: P2 z1 @* D4 E6 w' {3 M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) x, }" u) V) [! v1 Bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ t9 }$ L& B0 X" w+ x
are spaces.9 P; A& Q n' f+ k: V$ M
, i- G) E; ^ {* U( r# ?There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ M$ w+ W9 i" g" Z! ?! }
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" `1 ]: c# r5 [, x8 E2 t, b
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 s0 }2 m/ d$ |, x# `6 L: D$ n
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! Z* N2 a* `$ B# T; a3 pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 b. v; \& ^! c4 c
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; p4 z7 y, J" w5 n$ Xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, l- a4 T6 x0 j( J6 }4 B3 fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ X. L7 D4 ]+ K6 q: S. dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 ?" S9 z+ ?8 p* Q& ~% F: E
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
