我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 V* a: P( Y$ R* {/ v* N: D* `1 U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 p, a) L: O( ^: k: y/ m1 B+ z0 z& @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 R7 `2 G. q+ @# F5 n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, s. O/ v/ h' {
answers to our pointed questions.9 u) q2 N3 j: p; u- S
% k9 F% l- G1 g, P# ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, L! F- P) i5 g8 G, s45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; b8 W$ ]/ |" I( p$ b
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 ~) P7 j' k5 v/ Q* H; `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 k/ g0 E1 ?) A; r6 b1 V* O4 f
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( g8 U. b r; Z( R' n! pmedical schools.& p9 S9 A0 |% A* {, {6 M% ~
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 Y8 M1 k5 m. a- q5 l2 F0 S, ^' Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. X" ~/ C8 I/ z6 Q& T2 H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, R" m, G1 L7 u8 t0 W4 d5 D! g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 g5 o6 l1 V0 Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! I" U- Y; X, f& U% j3 s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ S# P# v; L. W* e& S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, d U% ^7 V$ _# p1 f- i: V+ `6 c% ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 G% y W5 U$ L$ k5 p" X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 Q) P2 o6 d) c5 H9 f2 H
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 E/ O& \" X$ F' |
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 U. j. m/ F3 n. @( a, U
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 x0 j- o: J$ g6 X ~1 h% {supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& S. A# J* y5 V/ `8 @2 e: J
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- W8 G+ r7 ~0 [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 i2 j# m+ }( S2 Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; I: a. a7 U% y+ s9 X" n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# \; K; M* @1 b( g+ Z) c) ^
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 X, N1 q: ~1 ^4 g L2 Z( b7 V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* Q2 ~/ ^# Q. ?# f1 `9 r% F
charge the fee defined by the state.$ `7 K0 d% O9 ]/ l7 `; f
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 A9 O" E' x- M2 @2 B% n6 @* m" s. qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 h4 j" _5 k8 h, }. d: ~3 c$ f+ i( }5 Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
0 @ v: r% b: q1 s) [5 mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: [) o0 Y3 A, R- O% }
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! y: M+ }* P% J" dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 o# F/ e, B. r: w/ U8 B7 a/ F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ {0 \, u" }# C, B. a/ J& Qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( [0 r% D# t+ o) G; z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ H# }, ]5 c& v% zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 K. {! E8 Q' J+ I" T
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 f: I% T& X* p6 eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) z1 v& r7 c& b6 v/ J2 [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 s: w* V, {: a+ e& s% kare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 K* K' S3 a; K, h8 r; jto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ \6 J/ [" \$ |+ o# f+ D" W! A' e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( }% e- Y6 b6 N) s' E, V40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 i/ I8 P, `2 @6 mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 H3 }7 M/ L2 A& j" c7 N) K/ wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ I2 m" e$ g- k' G: h% T/ }2 Wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 r4 [. G3 \; Q5 `3 A. b. U- @
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( a# ]/ y x$ n5 F. S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: Z% s6 {) i7 z/ p1 A
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
