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/ {# x5 }4 \" Q2 j( e2 \) m5 G
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' R4 b( t J3 r$ E0 H. ]on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ K& I& }5 ^- M2 {6 a"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 {9 X1 A$ H; a: b& q
answers to our pointed questions./ G# y8 Z* `8 V; @
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 Y: d3 P) e7 O/ Q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; @! M: K5 E/ a
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 ?4 ]; z9 n9 y$ X e" I
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. u0 `4 f" Z6 [5 v! L) l2 Wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 B5 I2 R' {3 e' z' C: k! Z8 p
medical schools./ X9 H; w: ?1 M
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( z8 ~* r1 z$ s+ e: J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& @( g5 S( k8 G) ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. d" n$ k) o: d2 ^1 x1 v
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# o1 {) F$ j2 U- b: U% \. D4 P
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to A7 g9 @( |3 @2 C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 O6 d$ h/ ~7 G* Q3 `
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" h; u+ B: G3 ]8 t9 v& I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ {$ c( x. y# \& B! p6 d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 ^6 _" @- \2 T* O. V' i+ D3 z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 j5 m) \! J. u& r/ J! X
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* N, Q' {# ]1 b6 g$ K+ i, Hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( \; M9 s) ?6 K( k- i3 T; }have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* K2 W% n" Z+ F" w5 mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ G r' a; D _ Wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, r* L/ o" [- v5 O. |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% @5 L; O7 b1 q5 p4 t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 I! `/ @/ F) s! n/ m6 T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 Z/ n& Y( C& q2 o
charge the fee defined by the state.1 x% v M4 x9 N; U7 y/ b7 [
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" q- H/ L$ x8 N( Y# Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, ]- s+ r4 u x$ z( o5 o( yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! x1 c# E. f ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
; r! L' f: S! k1 P b; [seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 v; O, S S- N) `, j9 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" p4 s+ {# K9 P& {' i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% x u, ~1 P1 d# U, }3 \% hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ f6 d& C2 B' B3 y8 E' @) Q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% l3 s( z$ A9 n8 @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 F2 q! j5 l3 q) B# H7 Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" [. l9 _9 T6 M- Q. B+ }, ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( L+ [' C7 r, L3 H& Y
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) j% w4 O6 s% y' b! S) N9 o& V8 ~9 Kare spaces./ z5 I' C! E3 E. s2 o1 n. |0 Z6 o0 s! v
* i* s Y( L4 H) l, `There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' w P/ O4 T: U) ~6 X1 lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 l( ?: j+ _8 N4 c i3 E: oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ @( s- @1 k+ V/ a) E- P! V40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" {2 _" A) B8 ]4 @+ @+ x% [
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 T# m7 i5 C( E# A. ]% [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* c1 z# [$ I5 o" a a& j! ~; g& F
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 o, I8 a; j% [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& q+ \* |3 A, l' o; C/ w* lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ g/ r% Z+ q# Q; A0 g# }: t We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
