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
+ `6 N% C- J' j# P3 T' Istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* h& U$ [6 i7 O9 X" A# ^7 S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: t5 {1 G3 j2 l4 h
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ ?3 }+ b! h1 B8 @, q* q2 xanswers to our pointed questions.2 Q% K! h5 s% d" I1 x
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' u6 E4 m4 g, r! K2 B, \1 @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# x+ T% k7 r) N, `/ v0 C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is m! p$ [" h: s, ], @% R; D1 b
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 I3 V) b1 ?7 S3 Rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& V9 a9 f: t+ ~3 |9 B4 D6 j7 v
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! n; I+ q* r) w; E$ t9 Z# U+ s9 Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 _& r! r3 ?- i5 f" Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ W! [+ G) S, z4 t0 Rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 b' e0 \- P0 Q1 w1 G
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. T* C( ~4 T$ c; }/ lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. k1 ]3 g$ d. `+ \, T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 {0 z# ^# N8 r; a2 W$ Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* D6 z* K* E7 z7 M, ^$ I
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- }1 a2 H, d g# {4 ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- `. {& f3 |: n" R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and \5 {% L, Z' \; @' {8 z) d$ x" p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 |" U4 B3 w2 h; h: ?& zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# _ P! B* j$ B( [8 g/ y% q8 Z) xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 r4 ] {8 K$ Y, p/ c! xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. i* z% I9 C1 {: [* B; O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 @1 Y9 X: A$ Q: X& }; A5 TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ }8 _% D! i2 D2 q% ^. K0 pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) I& n# e4 L$ J& Q5 X
charge the fee defined by the state./ Y/ y' T; D5 @* N) _
: X" t2 y7 ?* B1 n$ eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 m1 n6 w/ x8 K2 {' q& i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" Q: O! @2 ]* L! r: l( N' P- a: U
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* F& s' u$ H- y3 _: t2 v
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ D& f8 C3 t% O) Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 w' I+ ?7 _& k& N* t+ ^: E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, N/ y! U$ U0 L8 l3 j0 Bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' D1 |" S4 S& a/ m9 G6 R: A4 v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 P$ K3 y* P- M, c+ t6 u+ _
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ J( _6 e& y) S& Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% }7 W p. }# e5 {people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 u7 ]) H8 ]; d/ q Cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 D' r- o& o; M1 D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 y- b+ w" L; g/ E0 q7 B, u( ^are spaces., P8 l# j- |/ X5 t- W
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, i3 Q' j( O+ i) c2 U2 v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 v( l, J9 o. n' w2 N. g+ nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, f: q* m7 f, ~8 ]; v5 S S
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 D7 i# Y H" I9 U& uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( F& x( Z% u, {* t$ v8 g9 D$ n! _
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' h9 X: i4 a3 ]- S5 Q- Z; ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 X" x: u* `+ X) g& ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ ~" f! E8 O' ]$ Uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- k) l$ W4 ]) c* |6 }9 L! z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
