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
- _) n5 W: |/ V5 i! Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 z, A, r b1 U4 R
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 h7 z0 [6 i+ v7 t" O"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: }1 P6 c; I% e/ z6 e3 p- m( F
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 x! A$ ^; N* ?
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 O9 n! r1 \* p- a' | X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 e- M x5 T: q9 W- d" _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 h2 K/ t+ J/ M. N
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! P* r& ~5 ]6 M5 x
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 `+ H8 G& p1 O! b& H( M: N6 W% V* Y# h
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 v- E8 x+ V* P
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" w" j: |' g. j% D& B+ J
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 m8 o; s4 ~' F$ X& g8 r& Y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* P6 I) f6 q$ W Q4 a
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; P c' x! d; W% g. rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! b2 N" [3 \0 w+ ~( c: }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: c! N' e1 L" C/ T0 U( ]
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) X. j$ z' F2 J4 f5 @- a6 F
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no v& H. q/ R4 K |+ W+ e
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* y0 A/ g" Y! m" e& B1 G f! j. }supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ H5 i2 f: d; t( H: Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 u5 J3 l1 V+ ]- w0 V8 Y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; b1 R+ k! b% G/ b3 u1 ]9 Ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' P; I+ [3 B! wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ A$ Q2 d; H% MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; ^" ^5 W- P1 k7 |# A8 g: q' a+ [1 u! \a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; }: \9 s4 n, i+ t! ^$ echarge the fee defined by the state.2 W" p# A6 p0 ~* ?3 S. n
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ u+ @7 i; \( t7 ?! q, [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 {- K- F) r: I! P. D$ x$ u3 n. k2 tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; h! ]! U; D9 ?' G( d
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 e. }: _' w9 Y1 E5 k8 Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 k1 [& p1 s6 n1 [4 M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 ~6 @. v' |4 Y" b1 G& q+ X9 {+ W7 ^schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ a6 w( ~, p4 v7 ~" Q9 m) W8 y* M
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 X$ n: o& z3 X+ R3 S- n K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 y3 N q6 X0 y8 b1 X' b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& Z; l- L- Z- Z) P" i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( m1 i4 t# [% e! Y4 ~0 E: b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, s0 X! {, G3 I* c: t* t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 m( g5 R2 Q. {1 g6 Mare spaces. p- }* [) l1 A* f/ h/ C5 s/ q
- s4 h5 C# D& xThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ U0 R6 ^+ u" M" ]& y/ c
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" f+ v9 [5 J, u( f8 x; V8 gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! {3 @1 A, s1 p# H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, t: `) I$ _9 E M8 O6 W- v2 G5 sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* f% V: H; f: s% a) w1 cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) q4 @$ O s5 X* u' _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 C+ q6 Q3 _6 W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 M' y; E$ f5 G! X2 B& L" Q) {is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 S$ v% O4 E+ U8 A% e( C3 n/ r
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
