我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 v M( y3 e$ G$ f7 B
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 D, Q# c8 F* j7 h& L2 B7 Kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) G1 }4 f# u V% z8 p# W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ b) P4 i* T0 I! sanswers to our pointed questions.) k- p2 |/ @) {( F: b
( t- q$ n3 E7 Q; a7 BThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 t1 n, A$ R0 E% X% U# T4 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 m( _& e! S) U6 V# J; t
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' W' f4 Y& z; b: _0 afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 J# O3 R* R9 c
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) ^9 G: u# i( ~7 t- K2 l* imedical schools.
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% x5 ?- u6 u3 v1 B: ]Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* n5 T! {. F& j) l @4 i) `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 Z& _4 f# f3 V% E- b% r2 k4 m
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; o9 \$ S% g1 E# V3 P
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. o' o: r6 {7 ]+ L n$ Z$ y3 L7 Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 m; e* K" r1 i+ [% n/ Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; i0 v. Z: d, c0 m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; w Y- n' d; @! f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. H& Z2 b8 M" Z; |& L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* H6 o I d( msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ a# Q. K4 N0 p/ uprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- F+ D: p: z5 K* }! p& L7 P+ k
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: x5 o, p6 E1 k- a$ Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ M6 P& f2 S9 f6 ^( Q& bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ G* H" |- z, G* c, Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 ^" a9 |; ^2 y4 Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 a& j: V1 G6 H$ q$ Q# O' L: @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 x c8 G2 W1 j. r: ]" ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, r, D4 f& s1 P# [2 H! |
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: I# C5 {' }8 u* n# O! {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 `$ _( F( r" ?' c& x. sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 H' j/ u4 D: b
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: w3 m0 d# s8 iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# e H* \8 { ]- {6 D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. J, z' q( D8 m0 `7 j1 u, t sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( _# E9 l8 ~- o0 o0 W; Eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: q$ T5 K+ G6 q- N- _( ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( l( T( k" `3 V" i2 [5 `6 z1 M
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" v9 ~1 {, Q* Q) D/ _# ]9 x* b6 `people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 d' h7 \4 v3 L! R7 o: Nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 z1 r/ u4 N- [, t5 S+ q0 t0 K/ F
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* u. w% U; B8 A' i. g4 {6 `* {9 a
are spaces.
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9 d" f' m3 F/ h2 [" c0 a7 K. YThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* q( d [: Z* v0 Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 V' Q# p% i$ d
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 y, O0 l( L6 j( ^" y3 u& u- S0 w3 \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: L: A) b- B; w+ i% p: f
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* c! j2 D. m3 q; n) obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" E# ~: V7 `; L1 M! j8 p, tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% e" P$ S. ]" k0 k# kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 z6 G' u5 e6 t) Sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 Z7 ^- c7 H6 `% g" P t
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
