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
9 B. \6 D+ R- `8 X1 v& _3 C% istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, D+ j/ C+ L5 G: S7 \( @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 {/ K. j7 B& X7 I"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; H9 k& S* f+ O c9 Y; \
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( n, b) [7 j4 d/ S3 ^3 ~6 g+ i. @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 `0 `) ]8 Y# rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' X( {- A* o+ ^3 o( w* Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ f+ j2 l% ^9 F+ D7 V. Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' c; @" W7 c# A) w! G6 c
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" A2 w) n& c3 l8 _+ l+ j0 tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 @( q3 i# C& I; |4 gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ {+ R, j0 N; j* y+ Iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" B/ T% N i* v F+ o# Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 v6 ?7 x6 J( z; }! Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' @4 g, h ?& ?( V1 k9 M
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" k- y) V; [' n9 K6 ^2 s/ A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) y) P% o9 g J& _; l, V6 r2 v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) c& a$ Q& F/ R& k8 E+ _% X. d* e
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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8 N" {! ~% Z: h# \4 }; t8 E6 SThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 Y$ @4 L1 C/ o) T8 Z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
4 l: G: h+ \; x5 \. N( z( G& ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 R. o7 b- g0 B8 [4 G# t
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" |* o8 ] A, a3 V2 M8 g
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* @) q, _% \2 [; q& u
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! v/ m1 R2 e y, A" Vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ T- g+ t0 _& N( O/ b- X
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& h# ~4 W( |% M/ M1 ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 v3 o' s) C) ]+ t O. I7 p/ A+ G
charge the fee defined by the state.( K" i! y1 R( z" G9 ^3 w9 p* s
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ P" _: Y; m6 ?# {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- i& ]: {, E$ h( O6 G, r* e1 j3 o+ O: Fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& L+ `: G1 D% x( k+ S \8 Q P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: o% I: n1 o/ w" A# ^
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; m% M6 J* S! [0 }; W- z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 a, o5 ^" h/ t) V+ uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) C. L# Y- K+ n3 ]' k. ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 ?+ ?6 x B3 M+ ^$ j$ j( \
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 z& d. A1 u, U2 k; _0 g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 ^# C- T6 k5 I. O" _0 F/ }people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 S! J o" O$ \' E% mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 n$ v3 G) U( g, s1 B9 I7 ~
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. y: `% m% q% k1 u
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ R; M) M* |1 w% dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 W" d0 b; G! n- J) f( c- }2 c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 \- o [" ^: A5 E( Z9 h1 k( U% O40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
2 m9 z% g C8 v6 f7 I6 Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 N1 t: i y$ z6 D: i# b
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& S' S4 u" q6 t k. C" H7 Qnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) [3 ^- n* b/ X0 z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
9 ^$ u. f( s& C% r( }: {is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ Q% T# ]8 R/ ?0 G' M/ F
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
