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
0 i5 L" u, g: m lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& G" a$ ~! h( R7 c! Fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ k+ n7 n" n: F"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 v& {& o1 C% j3 F* manswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 Z e( y) ]9 i- U5 y' B; |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 a! @3 Y# h1 ` v6 M" x3 S+ A% Eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is {$ w( S4 T' |9 n& n: r0 M
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# u* _1 S" w) }2 m3 u8 f% h
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 x( e4 D D0 A, Q9 t3 J
medical schools.# |& @+ l( A5 J
& Y6 d) d7 x+ c( M R/ wEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; I+ X' M, ?* N% ]8 f2 `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 @1 q8 ?* x. W. g4 r) Q f/ Uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 t+ k# L8 |4 j1 N/ i' Y7 u) P
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# k5 s( E0 x+ r
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 P3 ]. n, l( j% X5 vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 v& l% j5 L# ?6 S9 {) G8 m$ _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ G& f$ w8 P7 d/ I/ Omostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( }0 K8 ?' A4 { Ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# i+ H5 m+ q. R! X- {sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) [1 P; ?6 S% _8 Q4 i- R* E
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( I8 n! r0 y! W; u1 X( o/ e: g
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; W Y. S4 C+ ~. |2 n; nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 w9 ^( X) j7 S: K9 Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 a/ i# p/ h% w4 d, Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, P8 Q7 z/ H* W" X0 {divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ x1 ]3 a8 r, W m, gDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 a, B' ~2 d# S* E# _, M3 m6 v
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! |8 ~4 k/ r \8 s: c1 U8 Z5 \
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 d5 D* U5 U5 m, b- b. ?9 q3 b7 ?on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# b/ T* C& F2 o5 ~& o9 s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 z1 T$ a5 b9 {" j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel y9 W k: J; j4 D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ l9 ^; ~& D! q' P+ E; M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ Z# u5 q3 N- z& Z: X' b
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if T2 e4 R3 L; n) m/ }8 k$ L. T9 s
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( T' B0 [. I: L+ F5 Ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 G! Z5 ~3 v5 O( ^3 s/ z' i
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. O5 m% c1 _* H- N3 k1 N* }4 Y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# G$ [2 i' k" H, L2 `) k
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# y5 v; U8 X, H( x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there- h8 a7 p9 m; @0 b
are spaces." p; t) T- T% p8 j9 S+ F; l$ m
8 b7 V) U) p, B# \There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; @; S* t1 h; c( S Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 B9 `9 a; G* G! k8 {( z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# K9 `8 I2 p4 _. K( G( v, D40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* O0 \' o* {0 |. ]7 u3 J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* c/ T* Y; \4 e3 b y8 xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( E8 W, G" M- F+ h$ a9 m) T9 [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) h$ i6 C2 d$ \+ o, ?
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% x y0 W* D& P
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 o% G9 ]$ k& f8 w1 b% b/ v. h+ H We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
