我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 _3 l2 `4 B" V2 W+ @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went. \% S" R3 ?, L- X& ]) k5 D
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ a" O6 r y! X; L% G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 m4 ` r4 X0 F0 }
answers to our pointed questions.
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3 n: X7 Z5 z3 R r$ b% M+ KThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; ~7 D9 k2 v% W% F/ _" u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; |# ?0 {+ v A# f- x3 D- c' W9 wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
7 A3 {3 z1 k2 g! C# |9 Afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, Y7 Q" r" Y3 ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 J" l2 ]6 `: ]2 ?8 d; V& q/ W$ c( F, c
medical schools.8 }" q) S, e- G$ G
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 f0 g' K- \% @! M0 w$ K3 Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ \/ o$ C3 m v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# L6 Q/ N' @# i& sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
1 q3 m7 C1 B* }# q8 m. ?is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# M3 o( N/ u1 j& ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
- ^$ F! L( x2 S" s6 Q$ lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" z' Q0 H1 P( _8 ~0 ~( Dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 a1 B' x! o" ? Y$ U) v0 ~shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 a! l0 I5 t( ~$ ~2 V3 Y# N n0 Z: Vsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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% x% T, ?$ T2 dThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( A& K: D: O, [7 m0 g6 y; w. {( ^# e
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 @ c8 J( q/ A+ m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
+ L" y9 {/ A5 x+ |6 K" Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 j4 |8 x( X2 V
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 v. a1 D, J0 E* E3 \! }0 W6 q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high A# S3 \, r( I$ k! q% ]. C
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* i% P3 _ g& w9 f) zDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When9 V/ Y0 u7 J. j: \
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 t* V$ ^7 Z5 I8 k8 }# \
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, L$ h7 \6 R6 O6 H2 y8 O) O/ son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' ~2 q' q3 H0 A4 ~7 e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 w) `- z* P# v7 G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- G: P9 M/ R& U& m7 g6 E
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 l6 s/ \* Z E: Y7 ?
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 O; P; Y1 D$ Y; s' N/ C
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ T- Z& x( f4 E5 i% Oyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people F4 \! ?! A e, O* { s
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# h% Y$ h K1 \( ]( ~$ L& E3 w# Z' [
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; z1 O3 I. @" Y: {- a! D( ^people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) f2 q8 \) f, P7 w t9 `
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! w, l y# J( @8 i
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! r/ }# ]0 D1 r# N2 h6 }/ h* Iare spaces.* d0 n+ k+ y4 t# z, ^5 D
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- p' Y' q* _; {+ b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ J+ o+ i1 y. h
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ l) P3 ?* {% r5 W40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% b8 F% }0 U3 _" g: U, Vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 X1 P) L# v8 M" U' t) i8 ~( xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 J; y7 S3 l v7 y; C
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 A9 W- D- K! _+ q5 o! K6 Y3 Y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* X2 v$ \3 x9 R2 Y5 u1 n0 cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 H5 |; Z, ^ d0 j" }& W% J We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
