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
4 u% l$ K# M$ O2 Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* k# D- D% n) g1 N8 @) B* V5 Xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 s2 }, c# X* a ["George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 y9 `. |# y. @1 ranswers to our pointed questions.
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* {. y8 V3 L( QThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* Z) ]2 J3 O( \0 `45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 r: \, z& i8 n; o$ _
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' A6 u3 Q u' l; Ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- |" \' {& |0 x: u+ H9 Lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& {6 L2 X' y- G! t# Q, jmedical schools.+ \; e8 V- |2 m; ]! Y/ e" u
8 z& [3 J M: P! i, R5 d; A. D, S6 lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- j6 H) W& L6 f8 _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- @( b3 w* P. O, X" F8 j4 r1 C# Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 u; ~4 D& m; b$ r" J5 [; M8 h" `
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) t6 [ U E+ g5 Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% _4 ?$ n4 }) f5 z- x: U, H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
I1 S$ S5 A7 \, V+ n2 G' F/ Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* j" I( y9 f; H; p! Umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 `! h' R. `$ w) \; jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% r; @) ^8 ?8 X$ X4 q; Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' ?/ e+ S" o% X- Q+ A( ]0 o; Q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 M0 g* f' M; Bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, z) e T0 w7 B& }5 G) m# M, i- t
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ T$ m ~3 y+ `7 P- ~, Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 O U% D' Q G6 H4 `' J
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 y7 A, P$ ?( S- P$ Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* u/ g: B9 c5 E; A1 v: |6 |
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ k2 y+ H& y. t" S# }' Q; u, ?4 M
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; @, _& W2 j7 ]7 @: T- @8 l
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. c5 Z5 G( P# E% Y8 i4 fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type @) o* b1 `+ h$ B4 Z }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. @. z. w1 G; Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ N0 d$ R* s" w
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 ?2 b0 E; y2 E+ D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ J+ ]8 k, L) `. R# Nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
/ j" B4 p1 P( _- \3 S, h$ Jyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' H0 M. w; L5 u$ g, j. p5 Y! J1 J7 H
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ ~4 v1 I' j0 E& s) t
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 U' o" ?5 v: U* I1 Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 E2 `& y% a3 n/ y3 x, ]9 c0 y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 E3 j& K+ n5 [7 Q) ~1 O, I
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' b$ P4 `4 P6 |0 a+ c5 X$ T6 Jare spaces.
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0 W7 D" p4 A: `" _There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ L# {1 ~+ n& V4 g) c
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 j! }* r) c! S, ~! i9 \own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( k$ z) F% c8 [/ v/ C
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ ~; F1 e) v/ U9 lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# \; v; n- s* {* v: w% b n$ {
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: i, p. d* k+ T2 I% Z1 m
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, x2 ?+ U9 O- G
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, c! y6 N0 O/ z; J- w) pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 ]; U9 E0 K7 H% e3 B2 x* S( x We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
