我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 F( I) t% @5 c8 \
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& ^- ^" \5 |. Z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: _6 k+ g+ {) w"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; f& G, `3 h8 o, p0 h# Danswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) ~2 Q" P: E! \* N p: T
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( D4 a- R* e/ iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 t* `/ @- q4 W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
6 P7 }. d4 l( y Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ z( t/ p5 \& g6 ~ ]% a
medical schools.+ ]9 o8 h( R- U8 q
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; @3 J! E' H! T+ F8 Pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 d8 K5 Q; i, o$ eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& l: P$ ~, e7 s! Q6 t _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% D& `+ {1 i) b) r4 X' }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: V3 ~+ J( c" K6 g1 J
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ c6 g# [8 A% Z3 | t) k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ H" m* P- \" r
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& [& M4 q9 _( u2 i
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 t8 y+ I1 f, Q6 T
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& d" v& S% d4 M( s- A/ n
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 A Y2 d& V- ~
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% ?5 Q7 q' h# v$ i, X, `% Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 i. y0 X: \8 X7 s9 u- Ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ P1 d# M5 v+ l/ Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& g% b2 P* m3 e: D9 h
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 y! m; o" _8 Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! Z9 \/ {! c j: @- D, i& Z, t( FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 U: f% e" ~# [# x8 V+ F3 h
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, }/ x2 Y+ ]! N
charge the fee defined by the state.0 T R9 }) { O6 k; I8 ^5 Y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 g% f; w1 ~5 _. F! L5 s. Non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* Y/ S8 z3 c( ~, c" Q% }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" z* t2 s' P+ Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 Y0 b6 B) Y7 _) {3 ~" c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 C/ o; D0 ^5 o+ E# Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- R. J1 [% y/ _* tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& e4 w q( u5 c& d2 hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 y. P$ k ]# P" l* l
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ ]$ ~# R6 J9 Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that Q% ^5 E$ t+ p4 [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* L; x [8 n+ u- X. f! n" f. Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* s- [3 p; I8 e9 W P ? ^0 Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' `1 J, F7 _; Q( W
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
( B1 S6 j$ ^) y0 o' H3 S Qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 k& K. Y' ^6 `7 K9 \" E+ p; vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( W3 P" j: Y8 a5 \2 ]2 l" g( |. L
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 W1 E2 g4 `; K0 ~# B9 _. q0 E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ S9 ^; Z' G2 P- K9 h4 R
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. Q- e7 Z5 D( g; }2 P+ `' lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% t/ x+ l+ `0 i: p, C& o1 Mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" r! u' M6 j7 P, @" i! g# z- Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& p B) ^+ Q5 t! S" M We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
