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
/ c; P' h- z8 l5 N, z) ]( Gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% l( e8 l7 T1 `; n& Z) y" U2 \) eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 n5 G+ W _1 {( Z/ L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. B5 W, \6 S5 f6 J
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
D: K: ^: |' Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 v% n; f: L4 Pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( T6 T' l7 `5 X/ a
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 b% w$ |' D9 M- bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ X+ _- n! x1 o6 f7 w0 O- N
medical schools.5 T' d3 J( i0 H; p! Z
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. R& N& x; S. m! _% D% @
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 W7 l/ ~; e6 Q4 r* g" `
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years W) N' z/ Y6 ^0 @0 }" k. s! n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# k5 v# p) G) E. E* [1 Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( A7 ?& D' }3 \: v* a# n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* w! Y9 n3 j4 |% a& @+ Cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# g. _( }/ q/ ?. lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ N3 T+ V+ U5 Vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 n: X2 s+ [4 T! E2 l3 _& Z0 O6 d9 T. W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ Z9 m6 C$ a" `! S F' i# e3 ?/ KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! v3 f5 j0 |, h/ Pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ s0 a, m# `# X. U, z" n3 i
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. u- j1 ?3 c3 o6 [& ?have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% k9 y1 B; z: u$ M* @3 Z1 Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: d' S: _6 ~+ {3 asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ }: P$ K" A+ a8 h! kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 A* b1 F$ ~0 yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 ^6 U2 y( m( S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
. w% C( f: v9 V2 c5 K zcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, m( N* ^& u% ~, Uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* l4 L# Q; ?2 U' Uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 Y. {6 i( S8 m3 e( [9 F c9 ]/ m3 d
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ P0 o% \: A4 x& M
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# e% E1 f8 }+ C: t# {1 K0 }" c: w
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 y; p! C* p4 t) \. mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 ^( Z, q6 q) T6 Q# k( n
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 P( Q1 E& e1 N, v1 ^, f
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
+ V, v0 Q! W$ U1 phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* E p8 H9 @% @# T% b, m Gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 O9 r* F8 S; q% W$ Cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- M1 C% z+ W0 t( abuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; @; Z0 |* ^. ]" C+ _) oare spaces.% M5 Y) h. i: G2 H. A
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ R6 _- O5 h- m) C4 _2 \* b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. a" z# K6 z+ ]1 f. q0 xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- Y5 Q2 ^1 b1 _% O5 Y0 ]/ Y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 F7 @: F; I# u$ Z, w1 sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! h% v( G4 T1 F4 H9 n' H1 jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ }+ R- i, Q7 X7 N$ A A8 M7 Q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 @$ L4 l, P5 u7 Vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) _3 o* g) m' Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 L+ Q ~) `8 Q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
