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( L5 M Y; Q( D8 Z' E: }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ L' g1 x/ F$ Y6 R# k/ {
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, t. n8 h. @5 g, x) J2 {$ e; ?( J0 C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 M+ X) ?' P- i+ M7 z5 \" Zanswers to our pointed questions.
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* I$ e1 ~( I* R% K$ G0 O( h+ e7 HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ \* l6 O) n/ \9 q+ w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) X5 J+ A% B" \" \, _& Dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ s8 f' _0 _+ N+ c0 D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. A; ~: d5 I2 m! a0 e- }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 U1 h' C3 C* R8 a6 [
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 F4 j' I; J$ p$ \- l+ F
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 ?; J6 f/ @8 F2 Zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 D6 F) A; U' O* W. M3 v( ?7 [* ^assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 }: ^$ X) ?+ G! o
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( e& Q% W% o3 ~1 Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: R% n) z. S- E* {" J
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ N7 _; o9 J, E' b, Jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 O5 H) j2 Q; m0 x
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 ?7 |* F' }8 {. H: g: psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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& c/ b i4 P" q: _! zThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( L% }! w T( ]! U y7 A* R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 j. V7 t- [9 j' E- M: isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 d h/ I7 _! F; T6 A! |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 ^" a- B! \' A0 R" A1 A
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 f) m) [) x2 _+ Z/ L% B
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 T. [" \* m# a% j) R+ J3 jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) z% J- y/ x! K; G) z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
' y: E4 t b2 j- Ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 D2 N. ^" f7 S# E0 B& X
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! h8 h9 K1 U+ V/ `4 R2 e
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; c7 }* n6 o1 F7 ?5 x5 ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. P7 E' r8 Q! H# A' dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ z/ E3 `9 |, P$ N) x9 U3 B- R
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ Q% K! W# l( Y$ ~+ a9 W3 }
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 }9 V5 U. o) L. ~+ M: C
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 E' J2 W* K( g4 O7 J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 P- J% p+ v9 b' J* m) ]trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' J& {6 E6 {+ \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- Y, r7 n) u; |+ j8 D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* w# @6 b6 j" V* w1 Z6 m nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 [- b o0 A7 `5 L8 ^6 D# d" t2 zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% d/ M2 T% E6 C [- _7 X8 [# Vare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# f- R1 Z4 X) B+ l% ]( ~! b' A- Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# @8 k/ [; [* W+ g+ y7 M1 `: F: a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 i/ F! [" o6 N' f
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 y) r- P; G8 `1 f w* pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 P9 t% T: D l9 H' }* s
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 L# |. b# ~) [3 L7 p0 w& ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( F z& ]% v; d: z! |car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 Q7 S8 y6 U r# F+ L; his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." s$ _$ A* ^3 X: q+ h5 u
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
