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* v0 l4 }6 J2 ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 ^0 Y c2 ], ^8 p/ W. d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ K0 A U3 y4 [5 [" C! B2 b"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* ?7 k1 X, X* w; k+ @/ _3 Nanswers to our pointed questions.
+ ] l7 r2 ]( F; u& y$ V1 K! [4 V0 b3 w! j+ W! X0 b2 l) c- R
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 w2 R. I5 C0 n$ U/ [+ @; |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: ] S) R4 y$ ]+ t1 D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" t" V3 j, Q( v4 D* X8 X" Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams x5 n, R/ D- i+ c( b
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 t3 X+ a& L fmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 l! t1 ?5 O* Kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 O# H/ V+ }( c2 S, L6 P: n, @
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- i. E! \3 ?0 E
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( p7 M* G+ f# C4 w- _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
+ ?8 Q9 z/ y9 Y3 d% S- ^over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 z, H; k2 }) y5 I/ ?seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' z j7 M5 q# z' [) q Z5 T7 g' F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
6 ^0 z3 H2 u. m5 M. w1 tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some" o- J9 h8 @+ {3 w( d
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ ^$ v) Q5 M, F. b$ o# HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. n! v/ e2 g/ C0 g3 T6 h" ]4 Tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 ]$ s1 w8 {: A: y" \( {0 y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 @+ v! C' P4 l2 N: h* e. Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ y' Q% {. W* F) N" w5 Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 R$ O; N+ R! S! r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( @4 T6 T) s) ^. W7 I. |1 n4 s, Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
# C: J1 t1 O+ \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: X5 j6 P7 h# qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' T- ~- ]/ ^) C7 p {. s
charge the fee defined by the state.$ ]2 B `: L( a( K/ f( @& ]
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% B# Y6 O% ?) q8 g$ \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ J& z! m( ]' f& b( Fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. }4 W) e# x; ]& n$ p5 I9 C8 Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ g6 r: i" F& o" U' Z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' H! C' o, ~2 I* i: e# pworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 q3 T, ` d3 n% ]& E4 {8 G
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 @3 ?8 B/ ]1 ~: t' H
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) ~- w1 }9 |; A( b' P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. d3 W. n! {$ E% i! {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* x, f$ i$ | G& ]people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ k0 b% g4 \+ mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( G O# ]1 c4 u' w! ]* }, _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% ~: u: A9 l% }" b( w+ x
are spaces.
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/ _- V9 ^( J, Q- xThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; k( s; B8 l L. [) p+ R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 y P6 Y0 A; ~8 D L$ ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% y6 _2 X z, z2 a, _7 N* t: O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 ^3 ]5 O' _2 D& m1 k( o9 ]+ }% wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: R. g* @5 l0 Z! S6 j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! ?0 @9 X- e" L+ U7 z% H" `
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% E4 m! H0 s3 m* {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 \; q3 q$ S4 his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) t6 \# f' b; Y- r+ r: e7 s& b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
