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
, i: l* k$ o3 S+ ]3 @" ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- f( S9 _' t% U# Y9 g6 W+ t' V
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& ?2 l& c; x* [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) v5 Z( F0 M- P: X9 panswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ {. l4 Q- F; p* |4 Z3 Q3 z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ U7 E* O1 Y# U) `4 p% n% E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& T' P" }# ?1 Jfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 j! c/ [4 h) v4 [' a
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- |5 ?' N) p2 z1 X' b8 K
medical schools.- [# Y) u6 }( K+ ~: g
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ s+ c% x: D2 V& I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) J9 a5 ~: M7 Q, Y; | Y6 h8 D
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' y! T, C0 C) {, a4 M3 ?3 J
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- X: a9 G2 D7 D4 jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: b3 U' R8 O: Z& ^# ?3 C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# C' {/ A6 r3 R8 i$ O5 R% |seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 O" n' n' H# |/ Y! Y/ Y8 fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 t9 _' ]# @3 B% A: E
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some& X& k3 a; F2 V2 S
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! ^/ G2 H9 E$ J
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no F* \5 A1 y3 V4 o. e3 r7 Q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 S3 b1 Y+ \) g8 [9 M$ q& [supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! R1 V+ ^7 z7 V! e; u* q
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! P, L" p0 z* \: ]thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# c. S6 w+ z) [) Fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ Y$ x5 J7 i0 a- A- d; k
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 j+ H. q" w( L5 M+ y# s! J1 PDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" ^5 r& _1 q! @6 C5 Wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 E) J) p# g" F+ t9 i4 j
charge the fee defined by the state.. {, o2 d/ q& s( R- U) b2 c
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% \7 B N4 J$ o5 C" {3 {- A, @% @6 ]on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! b0 ]' j* A) Y! G8 Aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ w/ z0 V3 `/ {* xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ Y/ U5 G% |/ ?1 Y8 \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 p7 R2 U& ^/ w7 O Hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' w8 G3 f8 w! F4 C
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 v: q |% y( x- o" `* dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 U6 a/ t1 a1 q8 l/ D q5 utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 p7 p& l9 l$ S4 Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
1 }' z6 k, F; q* dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, b8 _) J: q9 pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! G) f' s( c' Y2 r! C. D9 [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
\" ^6 l" M8 A p. z- O( f( Xare spaces.
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' q; N7 k% a' F/ Z1 IThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
s% b/ n# e; ]' h9 [% }to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 z9 F* n. i( _# D. s) r% zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% z- D: r, m! b q1 P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. G, T' Y5 b3 b: a7 r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 ?5 _" i0 l! B/ D0 x8 u$ K: z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( c2 l0 Y" _1 @( Q, Fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ S8 F3 J @$ `1 q/ a9 ]5 Y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- m7 ~* @5 M" q9 W
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' M* c8 x4 I A6 l& Q9 F* J1 j We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
