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
/ k2 r3 O2 _: H! jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' k" ~( X* F# Y4 ^# C$ Oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 b2 M$ D7 d4 h# v1 O"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give v) x. Q+ l/ I
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* A* F0 f7 k3 L: L; J6 S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 H* O' S" |8 Y5 w* k1 u0 S$ A
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; F& I9 u/ R( M; q& z1 A- e0 o' G* [free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ q. f8 p; Z9 p
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. ?, ^7 k/ m0 u4 o o0 ]$ h8 c! Zmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# ~# J* c; b7 E6 ?
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 Q* F. v/ W+ ]/ _5 U/ k
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ ^0 V X6 s6 K, I: V) T' p, v* b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba/ L/ v5 n% y7 k( C. B1 v& [3 H
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 K; C/ c# K6 x) |+ g/ k, F
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" L& I, f( R* B# P/ Y! @. Z5 G+ W
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% l8 N9 P8 I5 Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ U: I' X0 y; g" p0 Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; v& V' m+ h& a5 `, K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! R* Y {# s/ a" I' W6 v9 S! uprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
, u4 x: @. ]* `$ t; xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. ?7 \& S2 v5 W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 J7 q" K2 C4 i8 Q7 e
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 ?! M2 P5 H) z @sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 n# f& X) q% a( F. e, |2 Udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# |8 y8 A1 L R0 q2 v
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; s0 b* B$ ~; \% e Z) p9 p
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' I: W( h r/ i" r' bcharge the fee defined by the state.
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- [& f {3 m# H9 k1 d8 }7 eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" H( o: |* A8 T% gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! M9 I& M# Q7 p" m5 T
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' _- R& A8 R2 r) ^8 x- e/ Rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" x0 J S6 o+ |, B6 I% ^. x; Wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ X$ S m9 D0 q& Xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
) r$ U# m9 w* \, ?" r( cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if r; E& z) X( L. O/ X" R/ S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 T, Y% [$ b! x4 ], m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% p! S z6 f5 h& f: A$ I* Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; u% o, G, f; I+ ?9 p0 b
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% s5 w' s5 x ?7 W8 k9 w+ J- F- L
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% _/ \, S6 c/ X; k+ n' pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ n# R& o7 l( t6 ]* r( y. ^: S7 i, O% n) B
are spaces.9 c. ^: Z* ?+ D1 I! a0 G
% w, j; O1 A3 ?' H: P3 KThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 E! Q( {% s Wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 M9 z$ h( n; n2 M, aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& T( B8 A, v% s& Y! L$ j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
C& C% Z7 ?' _* U% @/ ]/ `5 Q. O" X9 pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 |' V. o! z' ~5 Y& D
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% I7 ]5 W6 y0 T, z3 q: dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- D* w6 a6 S- ?5 |7 Q y5 p. _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 y& D3 s# l2 p" mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) H Z! u! ?, F5 N% T We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
