我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 t" I( u2 s3 ?2 h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; M: U7 R ?2 n( `% Z" g1 P: hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" c3 I" L$ G. B' }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ b) T( `) f9 H/ @2 s/ Z oanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ i1 g! e( K9 S$ i: j9 ~6 O45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! B1 a- W C7 u( `. @+ H
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ I/ b) ]7 m3 z' d! Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams4 R; {- o! h- `, k2 e
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 B) Y: l: @4 U( m- |- l$ Y2 r
medical schools.0 R0 V3 q8 v8 t- Y8 v
- l; G5 ?: \3 o( c `. p2 N$ iEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' z! t$ N& s0 M% E" `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ ]) A" s! b- Q4 _; x1 j) x& l$ rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 s g8 H, g9 _/ vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 p0 ` d Q% ^. O! I0 N0 K1 P
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 Y: {. A2 }; @! g* V: I/ ]9 l; X& ]
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 ~( t K9 r5 D9 w# F
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 s- u4 X" L) P# j# A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& k) W. D, R0 b) t8 Y) B& ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ W; `. Q0 f! W* \9 |% G. Jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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4 R: F" o0 J3 D& F ?, [! ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
6 W2 F* r' N tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& i: S% m5 t/ t% x4 K6 x4 ~
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 _, Y& k6 o& \- T& ?
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 w3 Z5 |3 K" D, c( B
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ @% F: e, p l* |
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 {0 n- M) i0 L3 j4 X/ h
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 C5 i! _2 d, u9 Q) r7 }3 ?# G- r1 R( C
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ G7 M2 b9 ?5 `9 w) S' _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 J+ \* N5 b' i# I, @
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 m- ?; ~% W- R2 m+ A
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 q. K% p$ h8 D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% k0 K- ]8 @0 R# s8 ~" J! m8 ?2 Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel c0 Q- D, Z2 C7 x: O% D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( D, D/ f0 @: w) x+ M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' s; o# T5 j3 Yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if6 }$ v' ^. M4 B3 a4 H) y! W |- @% [
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& G/ n/ t) D: C. S3 f" G1 Y6 z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: P1 z1 ~& L3 w+ ?5 K" ^hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- w' Z3 Q& [. _. [& t9 Rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* Q: k2 S1 b2 S4 _
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& Q( z# V7 a* j. T+ U8 mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ ~# F/ L1 F' s8 @
are spaces.
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3 L$ l2 Z$ _# j) F& G4 [There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( ~* J, T+ G" N8 L8 g$ x8 j1 r
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
H8 W) y& P0 d; c2 town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, H! i% D9 Z+ E! t$ X( A1 A40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, B$ A. m' ^. M2 Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the j7 W7 Y2 N. @" ~2 I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% ~% r; O+ a8 j6 Z2 ^/ o8 \/ y u
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ S2 A! Z+ |% ]8 Rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' }* R5 e, Y" d7 ^ j f+ a2 p1 A
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 x5 ]$ t" f9 }. W& r3 ^
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
