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
1 `/ m$ L# D6 [4 I$ [" z3 `7 ystandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; [4 v9 J- ]0 _& h& T- t
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# b% i1 z% S \9 b! I; S"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: M+ ^0 n5 g; F3 J/ o/ zanswers to our pointed questions.0 ~9 D* r6 w- X0 t& ]# E
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 I- K' W) s/ Z7 i. r! a45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand j J& P: S9 H/ |
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( B; s" C3 I. N& @free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 c$ d0 i6 N5 u6 _* K. D5 h% o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; E; i+ @3 d- @6 M( \$ f: Omedical schools.! _; @ ?8 ?! W8 e
6 y# z: l2 Z% ?: F1 A- kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# X/ V- M" }5 B- @! C2 m2 d
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 l" s v7 x/ K8 ^, G2 _
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ w- S$ \* j4 }" ?) k
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& A! H6 K# e9 T
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% W# B: G7 K& R& {( |
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 k6 Z% z6 L/ A2 ~2 F* U: V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and I, f, B' z( K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" M& Q& v: Y4 F" }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ q% h' }/ G) v m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 n$ S- [, i! P% B, W, L/ S
4 z) _2 X; ?. T4 m- {0 cThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 |) H* s% w2 K9 V6 `4 x- P
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* G& m0 p, X, C2 m k
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( ~% Q0 P) B+ [+ h- ^
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good; V/ p% A6 Z3 q0 c0 }) P6 e& f. s
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 m" a) T2 ~9 I9 ~; g8 I0 r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! n" f6 F& \1 J, F7 f
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
# F* x/ ]9 o! H- r! w' J( X3 i8 U) }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; s1 K$ c8 p, n3 Ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 A* f* B0 @6 R- ?% rcharge the fee defined by the state.
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4 n% \2 t3 s/ X& b) FThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* t8 j5 ^2 z$ }, ^on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ Q n3 I+ ~4 H5 K9 b% [3 W) |
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 k( a6 ^. {' R% U/ k6 S4 ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ {0 x n# ^8 I2 `$ O/ C# b l( `seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ g/ ?" p3 ~+ R7 A4 [: h7 p4 `
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& G1 b, w( b0 |* }& Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
/ }/ E$ }$ q1 J$ ~! `2 W$ iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 S4 {( G. @5 s9 T* B: htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( B6 x2 u, Z3 k8 d: _
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) M1 @+ F( F- N/ ^- P# y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ Q! R" d: e$ ?$ a% c2 E: Z% t9 Cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 O7 W k W# t, y& y, Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, I6 r* q' G% [& a5 a; U8 i0 Q
are spaces.3 r" M4 b0 U+ v, V
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 Z s5 l5 f; Q& L9 o$ ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 m. y# S" Z/ k9 H' Lown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 d7 N6 r# [+ \, H& r# k+ W
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( H: I% u) N$ p* }5 n7 z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! v6 Y! j0 d9 L
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& t) u4 N- O- m+ i( \nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; O9 W; g# h# z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* L. q: `* ^# e( @+ D
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, J$ Y1 s# e. B" @! Q% m+ _ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
