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 _6 w, f6 N' h* `6 Y w& Y( gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" L |$ f# u& C. L. J; k- Qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: a; n0 B, y, @1 U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 ]' }2 L* K- V' t) t
answers to our pointed questions.% e3 ]3 S9 L2 T- I) Y9 \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, a& s7 f8 P$ k% G2 J
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& A3 F" A3 c) e% {5 Q* s( ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ @2 H% t U. L4 K# i: Y6 dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 `, F& G% F6 h% W
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 S8 k. V6 z0 E- ~0 bmedical schools.
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& X1 N7 d0 h2 ]! {Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 J+ K2 |% k+ k+ ]# z! G
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- M! ^0 {9 S y, {. t, zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. _, A& |# X% O: c7 x' ~6 Z5 R7 ?0 ?
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
6 f4 F9 R, {7 i; Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 L) [; x e% s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! [" }7 K5 B4 r2 E- ]( tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 i$ a/ F( \+ C- y5 y$ l: ~
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 ?& H+ V/ G) {
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& V/ x3 o0 ]0 Z4 Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% z5 }0 E* i) g
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; ~2 y y i! w, N) j& c% g% i% {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; q7 ^8 c) m x, @% c+ q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 w4 j" L" K; c: G! a! S
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; r, U s1 N: a. |# Q; |9 P4 ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 C/ p# {8 Z: a' [& U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. @& u2 F& b' C- U4 [1 Q4 {( G: b+ Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; L1 `6 T5 Q$ jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
J& E+ n, d c& ]; xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ i- c7 d8 ~9 A* y, Q; h
charge the fee defined by the state.
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3 p- @# r6 c d- y y! r0 ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 E9 x& E5 P, u# [6 g8 F8 M
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" U/ Q: b! a# W' M, \6 Z' N3 N, q' W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# l0 n0 A' _+ btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 q( [1 B5 R9 S! |4 u' S7 Wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- L5 o3 f) e. h% cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: j; V% [7 M; O( O1 J* Q: }
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" z6 q$ ~7 ~+ ^& n
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 L B: X. [/ H# F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ J* E4 v# e2 [" H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ q) C- m% i3 I, H2 D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 ~+ v/ R% V0 r5 i# h) j( o# F6 ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& q* Q3 i% w6 ], B2 n& G6 O
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) W3 i, m, s+ |4 Zare spaces.! j, s! A9 e. {# X
9 A9 K6 Z- `, k$ QThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ n3 j" ^2 I2 t4 F7 [+ i5 S
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& {# C" G+ A0 I
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the p% ~8 u0 {! c3 k8 [/ L
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 K5 l" N8 \* M9 V1 P oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% K& K" }3 {8 e- K7 o* Y7 Wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% u" D5 D+ {# b: C: Fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" ?! F7 q6 |, Z' gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ ~8 a8 D7 W$ d' i0 ]3 N
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ A4 S" ^7 k$ c( y+ l6 `9 ^2 K We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
