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 R7 ^" C1 e) ], j
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 N4 D* n2 v9 [% ^$ z* m( Qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 ?. z6 T3 G3 J! U/ y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 |. L4 e2 g3 j% A1 O6 canswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 S6 L( D! v0 [& J" r3 _3 _
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; |3 N/ J5 {0 {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ u9 [1 q1 F& k+ r/ U7 D+ h2 Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& v' I2 G# |4 g" Q$ ?' O; M2 xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; e3 C y; e N9 ?- Amedical schools.( B5 [4 P! w( }
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 l+ S8 N6 l' O! B) |government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; B8 o3 n6 G) E4 ?3 ?) x2 f
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( B& v: e8 [: U0 Z$ L
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% X1 y, N4 G5 {
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 X L0 k) X7 xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
. ?5 I" T' K: m& U6 p; cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" K% [- h+ p& f% b* \3 j' I! e
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 e1 V, z3 s* d, K! d* Yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- m9 a7 }! H5 t8 ? Ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." W! \. b- L/ Y ~3 G2 W4 R) N5 r
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( ]4 }1 V9 x h5 _& N7 h. R/ ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; h3 \" k" a: U8 o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# S& k' P1 Z& t) Z: ^6 ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 Z( K, q2 G# y' y% O
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 U- x/ q9 M2 z1 O+ ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# `* {6 ~5 {& w" R
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; `, e1 V5 w. \7 v, k1 ~. T& t8 @
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* h9 N( b( C5 W/ Z5 e
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 C; v4 F Q" G2 w! C, W1 w
charge the fee defined by the state.
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1 E' u0 q. m5 k7 B% s# B0 gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
b. O( m' O, O# [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 t$ P1 r; w. H: O7 T8 K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 n; h+ F7 ^+ O9 e) Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
, ^6 k" h) i3 X" z9 Jseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" @& ~' r8 q# Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! _3 M7 Z; I( X) o, s3 l N# Fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 n7 V3 _0 w: }. Fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 R( b% G" t3 u. k/ S( l) U: Ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* R1 `( F8 v9 s; e( ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 v' f6 y1 V$ y9 c% F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ B6 g1 ^& ~: H: Vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# h% u+ C# S# K& @/ }2 g$ g0 c
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& S( E. z9 j- x! V3 F% @
are spaces.2 z2 b- h$ N+ |0 O" C
: F& L3 R7 h1 ~" H% SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
, A: O5 z5 b1 Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# \3 W6 e1 {3 C% w \
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- J% m! o; f& @1 {* @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ v! l; \( w& ]6 Y* x% l4 ~parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 n$ m# M$ ^# I! Kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 {" X2 l5 J1 R- x+ l# K% X; Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of4 w4 R0 Z" Q8 D" r
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. B9 @$ V" x) Y1 V3 P8 u6 D, x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 d3 U6 k! }% z- e We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
