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
5 X4 h- T' Z7 ~# b" l# V" ^standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& n0 ^) E+ p( Qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: m* e, C- F2 ]' V"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ \" a8 k( A0 u! Q; ranswers to our pointed questions.
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; u% j- o! o+ @% z5 iThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! w- w: u2 F e( l' S45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; U1 [& g+ Y( r! v
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& Q: `( S) M Ffree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 H$ P. Y# Y. J( H
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 S1 R% }& { n: I( a, t
medical schools.' z* a# @& |. n- Z2 B8 E( t
2 s0 O" T! ~$ f4 N9 cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" z. d" s8 E" }7 H$ P7 S: z* y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" X: ^- i7 P2 W2 l# Vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years" S* G% Y7 b+ N) p; b8 q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 ?1 m8 {) ^6 h- M5 y4 k& n
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% E: u" x$ M1 a- C0 `# Y2 ^/ \; Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* r1 X% z! [& c5 J* N
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 h' C% \; F3 m! e8 _: T/ v
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 [7 ?. E; ]& q9 J8 bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ q& {# J4 b9 [! @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- g0 _0 H. M' x* Q4 sprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 g. J, G6 X8 x# ?1 h9 lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 x% k0 t9 G% {0 ^; Y0 Ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# D' W; Y! r8 Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* \0 ^4 x% P/ Q- y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) U" R0 \# Q+ L: u ^6 p
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 `# v- k' k) {1 v# a6 k( C/ yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& j7 p' m3 y) F8 l, g8 O
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 e. F' X/ n- P4 Z8 f _5 w
charge the fee defined by the state.+ w9 y" |8 I& Q5 r, G- r# T
+ [/ {& v) q8 q3 T/ z) }
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
! z. q8 O* n) z% b# y3 D0 j ^on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 j# I g" L2 Y) |- ^0 i. v
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 B& M4 _$ }% ^( Z$ c- t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 O5 Z4 L7 n1 q/ R: C( `1 t q5 iseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& s( c9 G: U, R9 wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: I$ {0 }% e( |* W( o0 Z) Aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; w+ i1 {9 C- ~2 R% I, Z0 Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! f; L C+ P- t
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 A( R# ? {: q6 T. Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, v* Q8 T( \8 t9 z J3 O' X I$ Opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
U: Q2 H9 x8 }' t, Y6 {% N5 K, Uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
]) T; l' }$ a0 Hbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; y1 }1 W3 k* T4 c
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ v, \- T7 p( H( }
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 ~) p, j0 f; K1 O. B: I) y" U5 down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 r" {% Z: [8 B. ]; a5 `9 r
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: U, n9 v2 r' M7 O8 r$ ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 n( ~- ]! a) l/ S0 j$ P5 C- h; y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& n0 q% m' H7 A
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: v2 g- B# N9 W3 J! f, M/ N8 V, s
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- v( R3 P' S! h4 Q- dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 T, w- {. d- n4 |! N
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
