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
: E0 |( Q0 M8 Hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; U, ^1 i( X* @8 i$ q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) @ ~* {7 _( @3 c7 l"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ y+ T R. x* ]1 l: n% t
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' c5 Z; p7 ?+ m" P: k45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& t) l2 l% o2 I$ n( p+ Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 D( @6 Z4 `/ c2 ?4 ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 G& u2 u/ X3 a3 C
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( g1 U( D d2 v N0 W m9 d1 ^
medical schools.8 D: f# w& T6 {, }/ A- ]5 V
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* J! c' R! H: k8 a* D: D$ X
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 M! f3 K2 W0 @7 a: G& X5 yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' e4 w; Z9 A$ m& s: ~, }
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 r5 L5 D f: v8 V$ P- I7 Z' W% c
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ r0 N+ l5 l8 S: |$ {4 Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; z+ J/ h+ g5 H! o1 Nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& M. u, H0 U. U8 U+ Y: P
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 J! v% { r! X3 M" fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# ^2 H! F3 R- Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 ?4 t) {3 T1 D( K6 R3 {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
u5 J/ q. U7 L7 D: \supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* L2 \2 t! p3 o* Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good; F) Q( K- H! w
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 w( F; f5 A8 \7 M l
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" i* y0 T) `& f2 d1 X, Adivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( K2 P+ x1 v0 ], u6 d8 C4 Q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 D3 s( F+ ^7 n# g$ L+ U# k% b
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" n1 V6 F$ Y! m' b* ?8 t5 U$ R) w
charge the fee defined by the state.3 ^( ^( V! _! _% x% D
+ Q% p/ p1 ?5 W; aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 F! t/ i4 c2 {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 x+ H4 n4 ]- t3 r6 J0 D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ ?# L( z* b/ P3 e& @. X/ n% m( j2 W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 C+ L5 ^+ e- ~seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! F3 I) b' l; ]& F6 }! p4 Dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ I1 W+ Y9 R7 M& ^, m
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* o0 x/ G5 s. ?) o) {' ~you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 ?/ U6 ~. _3 Q' [. F3 p9 B; ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# v* \6 f# Z" F, e
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 G8 o) \8 _. c7 O! p5 v! d! F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) i! G0 H9 E8 p; Q% l3 L
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 ?$ r0 O0 w* h$ m8 P0 g* P2 x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 R% U- q' x; H& Z2 x: s
are spaces.
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) ?/ `" Q) c1 A2 J+ R* ~/ P; ^1 PThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 I! e9 Q! W0 I0 j) Z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) Z# k9 y0 L6 @/ w$ |+ jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the O2 ]" d! d% V) r
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 K Q# o( I, s+ ]/ P i9 q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ t! K! j9 K- c: D/ { ^5 nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' ` e$ s( ?6 m+ H- y/ L1 k* x0 s
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 d9 Y! W. O: [( jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# h o" ?. E1 r1 dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 y3 c) z- o8 l+ Q- ?
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
