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, x: n* [/ t# @* f# ~* u/ X! t& z6 V1 K
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ E) b% k1 G1 {& p0 Z& p7 W
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 v$ s1 y2 v( s" o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give O" S4 i6 e: |% ? }/ N
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ d" T0 m G( |( o4 p$ t9 Z9 i. @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ q5 {; Q* C% F+ i
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 k7 A" x1 r8 Y, `. u
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
6 F1 G2 ]% P) C: c1 j! ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 H( b- q3 K. o% `1 d/ d
medical schools.
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) ^! |( U1 T" m. O/ dEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% q X4 g3 u3 D; b# Hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% Z! Q3 g# [$ q1 `0 l. [/ p( M
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- i1 M1 x" F B9 j: u/ T% r* v9 {
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 p. H( B& ]: q$ Ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 T( V& O4 p" u' k5 `. M" fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& s+ t! m }8 ~/ d- xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 t$ r2 m: t4 b$ e. E( B
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
! N) D& h2 H5 dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ l% F1 ?4 _- h6 p2 Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 F) Y0 v. ^+ y8 ~8 A
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( h8 E- [# G* {4 G" ]private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& Y; A2 B( K0 s% Q9 Vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% V ?( S2 Z! q9 Yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ L7 ]9 Y0 E* U8 N# E8 bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ N$ X% S0 w/ D/ p; Y* Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' m1 F7 i( `" o1 q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* r0 M/ B9 x6 }* w% o9 ADivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 Y+ v- ]) w% x, D) `' Ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: w% R$ q! l6 }" W7 R; Y) S$ rcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# ^6 b/ `4 j7 U" r/ Y# Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* [2 ~+ }5 i1 J! R( Z! Vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" ^! |/ B( R7 T. v, I
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
- b3 W; n( U: a6 Rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- }6 H G# y2 Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" {8 c) b* W9 ^2 i2 |8 L. vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 Q/ M7 h' w, i8 U5 Z5 |: u% J9 lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 g" T; ^+ o' i" I; Vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# K/ N1 M& Z* U8 a2 G( q& @& w
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% d) X2 p/ P- }7 @% S$ xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& V9 v, z! S. Y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 @$ ~: N0 n* t6 d0 M: d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& P H2 ^9 n u( [( o( O" |& J; care spaces.
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" R D0 \5 J+ w, ~- }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% r, \% {: T- {7 D* _3 Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- F; ?6 K7 r0 T2 @, d9 [8 K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( ]( P+ T2 P/ s( x8 N5 h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# U* ^- {$ Z! V' b# w+ ]% _, u- i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- \& }/ N& H+ C+ Q' @. gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ Q: F$ A" I6 m2 Snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 P/ f3 I. i; {9 u' J6 t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
_8 A& T. Z0 Q D) \3 ~+ n3 wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 z, j( M/ S3 J0 z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
