我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 F- R4 |( P% q$ b/ I
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 ]1 S _5 s- v: B) H
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. ?/ T a; L' F1 n1 |5 R
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ a: n. M7 n: q! u. [answers to our pointed questions.! Q0 l' M' K; y# _0 ]
; h2 _' Y9 i- T) OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& ~: ], X2 Q( c. d) v45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
E- X7 R3 b* M1 H& g: K' h0 H- P, bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) L" J+ A3 `9 z6 r; [# z& xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% N9 h8 x2 i& Y. t6 `to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' S( f: I9 L2 w2 w' H6 G
medical schools.
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: V, Q" B( |" S, i: K6 jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 e! Q" ^% i. J6 o! K5 @
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* F$ Y1 s& U6 v3 s6 hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% |9 A' s8 I9 N4 t- passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' \9 H9 W5 _* R
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# e: z2 s* e y, `1 s: v2 f5 a
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
. `% Z1 D& w6 d" O/ d5 vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 ]$ p' G; k' r6 @0 Ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 S: a8 b% }7 ~( r) V5 P" I% g/ Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 h/ s! F: Z: ?" t- r$ Nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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E V2 ^8 @. VThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) ^% E) {4 t, M M1 |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 x: B: ^+ E3 K; |- [$ [
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! A0 W) {! D. V5 Ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 J& H* |" i* B
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 u! N; ^. I$ z. X3 l$ S
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 K5 X% l* E4 K$ R4 pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 _; B$ C G0 ]* O0 E0 V, _Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ l5 Z8 W; ~% C2 V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 m% P! ~# s, ^" Fcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) T3 i7 r9 V* h1 V5 p( `
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( A$ s, }4 u0 n7 E5 w7 J
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' W7 g" P3 u# }/ w4 xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 g5 Z+ ]% m* S+ K L8 `
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 q- r" V7 j. a; ]* D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ i8 e6 d: ?* K: z+ G
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 ^3 C+ M# q# A. @ M& {9 c2 z5 u$ } Zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people( S/ J! a0 ^# u% L4 b. |3 f; \, |
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. ^6 x& E+ [- W: Q- ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that0 H9 X1 p1 F* H! g5 V$ {
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 R3 ^' w# j2 E' a: B ~/ Z4 @- M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ U) {9 K% w- y* x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 y# s7 g# m( @+ ]: w' K; p: d
are spaces.) c) ~3 m7 {5 ]
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" z( {. |* E1 o% Q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- z) ^! J3 ?9 W% H8 h. k% O& S
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, p! J5 J. m( E0 @ f+ D40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* S" v3 M) K# {parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 X1 N! _, U9 G/ B) K$ L l7 B
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! a# g( ] ]6 P. J! B4 unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* Z3 k" |1 H. M! |' u9 X6 r
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ n2 D8 |% C0 \is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.# @7 M+ M) v) Y1 G9 ]- t% r5 x2 M& s
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
