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
: ~7 _- _5 n7 v% T6 mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 c& I3 [2 l% e# T# con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) ?: B$ y) I: |"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ f9 m3 `& p% ~9 ]answers to our pointed questions.
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% J0 p4 N% O7 E. i9 M" AThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 b2 y# c4 L, i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 }; K N" K+ Q, G) ^
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ Z0 E, L2 M+ @- }' [free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 U; o8 d2 G) J9 u" a$ c# ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' I! |' U( s# |- |medical schools.) n& x& s! w, ]& w3 O
# V5 M; c. i$ n2 R9 q3 O% W: D: jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& [7 w* a8 A# Z+ g0 ?8 g. Y% O, z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 t' k' G; c: h: G% m
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 J& s; i1 j6 n/ s: K
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
: d# @5 Z& g- iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
E) \" x5 l1 Yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
( H" u: T' d. h1 X' Yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" ?' `& y0 [; S+ e% v9 j+ Cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 \ A1 J5 M* D2 L! }
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 N' b$ a5 |/ R3 Vsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
G, w" G* l5 S+ l2 Oprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' V# b+ {3 J& U- v; b
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* F% W3 T$ E2 P) p+ Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- e- y0 T- Q6 A) e4 j% F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 t$ o* z" g% v2 F, i; a
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 `2 V) Y2 Q6 i$ J, J, a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) D5 k5 e5 J4 U. R C
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; l# M) L. U* [$ [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only W& w' ^% m: O! K1 e8 ^6 ]9 ?2 P
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 c5 w; K8 a) M3 K) N! o5 hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' p* v7 u/ t1 A7 _" P2 t
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ ?# q0 Y1 W: X% ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. h* d3 A. B- r1 A( n l2 c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 E. |8 y6 B& o. W, i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& e6 L# }, v& _; I& y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 T d% h( o; L2 }" A2 D- f
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% `5 S3 v7 t/ e+ \1 e* P
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. u: d" R* V2 U9 T3 M0 {
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 i2 M3 e) u" g6 mpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 N/ p; Y+ Y7 F4 kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 W5 p# X. L5 C# @7 N- g
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 E$ m, f6 H* G3 T+ ^( {+ p
are spaces.) x4 o9 M' q' K `* J
5 {" m5 ]7 a1 |% l# FThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 ?. _+ @6 Q! a1 J0 u$ h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 I6 r% p* \, T. T. x6 down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' L0 h6 t' f& S40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 l! k1 w# K' W- ~! w
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 o7 c5 f0 P: r* b+ W5 X/ Ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% [0 K7 j7 H' \; A8 ~* G
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 l) [: x! V, `$ Acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
q$ {+ }+ @7 F- Fis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: G% D' t7 i3 l* S; m! a We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
