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
. N, ^5 d$ @/ F4 N) Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- b$ \% x8 A+ f# m1 qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 @- S* a% z1 x8 O1 x; A+ E2 `, j
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 l: r) X5 Z2 _answers to our pointed questions.- l& R+ T {/ {' d; B* E8 ^% N
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- n5 x" E: J' X+ l4 b, |
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- ~( n; w8 s* [- S# y7 F: S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 }9 d; R8 y8 [; c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 g2 ?0 K0 A1 X" E; B; Tto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# T/ c. q" P" R! i0 M& Q6 h( \
medical schools.7 M4 G( w; U7 ?" c- r0 F! y- Y
I. P6 H% [* M/ EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 c7 }. ~- n7 w/ ]
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 P8 i' u& P# W& p2 ~: J8 jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) y+ }9 b! |) yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 C7 O8 j! Q) t4 K1 H9 u. M
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ G. b/ ^& P2 }& [" n6 o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
( W4 g; v* c( K9 P8 p/ jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! t$ |. u$ c- J# v M
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
- I7 I7 e$ \- wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some: h" i1 N, I. ]2 k3 b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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; h6 ~3 e* t2 ~/ e3 S& ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* ~' i! [ \# P# q l7 jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( F$ q% k9 N8 G* W# h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 C! G, F; \# U9 d$ Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! ]9 @5 g7 ^8 l4 s! j
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ F9 f$ [& ?+ N
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 _+ ]2 H9 D) `+ }9 i6 ^+ T& t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ I6 H/ Z: K b Z* P# r$ |Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 v/ O5 B* J a' n& Q- @8 Ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 e% g" `6 b. echarge the fee defined by the state.
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- B6 v* z1 }7 {1 BThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 |; a& W, N" A' N$ C: o) D) fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: n7 b# V2 \' L7 {- Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 F# Q! y5 _6 O' }+ S
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# p z& G+ r9 V8 u/ G& aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' N' z; o# N! ?# ~
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* D: g5 D: {5 B1 C& t6 uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# q1 u4 M3 z1 m4 K0 Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ g$ O- p0 `& O% x
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ B; m! l- B$ K& _8 Q3 Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 r* O9 k4 Z1 P Rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 _$ ]" F$ g% k: k: V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, n3 @6 T y, Y) r' R, M/ d' mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: y8 }1 u7 }$ \1 Aare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' ?& t- i7 r+ k8 O. p0 [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 b& x) n$ [- g2 P, H6 Cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- X3 [* H( W4 w. [/ _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 Z/ ]: M' ^& b8 e
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! n7 D& _- j: u& ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 Z1 Y5 i' m3 @* E! ^! I# K4 E& T
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" V- z8 x2 [1 m( hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ n. _ \7 b' K9 r8 E% Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 i) D% d. Q6 h R: Q7 j0 _ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
