我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 Y; R' @' M8 q( Y" \
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( k* l# z8 a& F& F% x1 @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# ]* ^7 N4 {" k* X( W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& m9 M" c) W; a8 r' Ranswers to our pointed questions.
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0 q. u; O2 g* }) NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
) b: J! L8 B( f/ N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; X9 q2 o* S3 g/ U% v% U
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 X; ~( }/ J S6 l4 D2 U7 lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 p$ K7 X( M) j M# t8 m/ _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 |. l* c, {4 P# P8 Fmedical schools.
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' G' B- X' Y7 {( rEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 L6 a8 P* b: X: Q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& K1 w# q" [7 H8 T+ Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; ^3 h2 p: u& K" N) qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, F) [9 K3 G% ?6 X
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. `$ a! I3 e8 F" x4 W6 g" [
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
) k1 Q z7 P. p% @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 c3 f2 R9 R ~5 @6 i; h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 Y) U: S9 V6 a6 {, c- s% A! j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, q& D% r# x( D; {; E: L
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! H b8 x% Q, @& P) U
8 P" ]! |; u+ e. I1 W. `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
; w) {9 X6 {5 \/ ^% Xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 Q- L9 i* u: W* Q. L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* r7 |. u1 a2 Z5 G
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ N- {' s' d. D$ }, \4 i Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" e2 h) L# o- i0 r' G) isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! x" y. }) z. n; t+ ^4 Ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' R+ R* Y5 H& u: a$ q0 g# T$ UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; ~% I; H# h8 J6 S G; z$ B2 ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 x3 {3 f: g n8 P7 @; ^5 k2 Z' Y; R
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' s x* u4 ^. c+ A& l8 u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 K; X# {- V+ V7 ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ V% K i8 {; a
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) k# N# b, C- s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 ~# b' l/ v) ^0 A' x6 ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, @. u. m9 T9 T/ M3 \
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 D: m6 `, v6 n0 [3 a1 T) J' L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 K$ P8 R5 ^2 l$ k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# j; H1 e: l7 j. J* V/ H4 A- C
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( l8 u1 y8 ]' V( [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' v* P0 r9 Z+ d7 ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 e* M& U9 |3 W. K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 M, A& q/ l2 V4 Z$ r( m. R# F; B
are spaces.
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6 B5 C5 d3 a& s- {0 TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& `5 e* s, D H0 X5 k' ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 l8 ^; Q' B9 S% h
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& x! H. T+ x- p# Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" G: _- f3 h) H( d Iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' S4 ]9 J! t. _0 r: e
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 {1 J* X% c: G' u
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
E$ c2 n c, i3 T# K5 r* z9 k4 Kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 n# H5 d6 {* V$ W; Q5 t& wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& U I1 L. ~2 S8 D We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
