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
0 ~" _6 j. k1 \8 d2 kstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) {& L0 h4 t5 |
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( j% H( }+ W6 J3 H* K) ]
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) R# ]3 ]9 m+ T# K- v3 r
answers to our pointed questions.6 L0 Y' @) H6 M1 \
2 T- g% Z2 K( aThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 a+ r4 d7 v7 K" g5 v9 ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( q- d& {3 B$ S& v! @ C- ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 e# p. z: l( h c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. H: d, C q# gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% J; h+ L6 z6 i+ y: b% H
medical schools.- h* m9 s( p( F/ _4 o N
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 O. K* S/ y! r, lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
I. P, P! n$ v8 W; y, qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& l" W0 u G% x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 i% p$ f5 Y: b; U+ v: N) d7 I( ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) C1 O( ~9 n* C: t2 Qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 u) s5 W( I8 @% G
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 J& q C! q0 L& f8 m- F! g3 Z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! W9 \4 }# o$ i: L. j9 U; ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 e# B [! X a7 U2 t% s* psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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. i( E) W# c5 U1 k; X( eThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; N3 N6 F$ h4 w6 j
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ l$ x- q+ c; I2 O* h) ^supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 z# r3 d- ]$ b) L z. R" F7 K6 K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" ~ u+ ]( Q/ cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 B5 ]: @8 O% [) \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. s- o- H' J" ]" T" B) L, e
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; R8 e3 J+ ^- F3 t8 a
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ M) c5 @$ P+ K; N8 \0 |5 R
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
?% X* y8 ^9 M( m- {. g& Jcharge the fee defined by the state., k5 a+ E8 c3 Y5 l/ K
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! r8 S2 K; j/ {/ J3 r; l
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' ]/ F& \, ?, O0 p% W4 @. Uof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! h8 _! m1 X/ z8 ^+ etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* }4 V/ `* b8 S, R" I5 a, v
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ s" S, R) G. S2 g( G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* v3 c! [( o5 X" |/ Q2 j! Yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 F( D. a5 S- i% \4 z3 Y' [. l
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 {7 C7 D% l1 w
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 J q$ d. v' [ t& T% ]hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 E5 `" E& r4 X8 A
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! E& B# Z7 @( ?* R+ p1 s; s n, xto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. p$ t5 t) H7 N' A dbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 b6 l0 u$ h' b6 L6 J- z3 R
are spaces.$ R5 g, Z7 F/ _
# u6 O7 @' P5 r) U# DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi% n1 P* j! J$ Q% x2 V: S
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 ] ^2 t" d$ N2 i" w" bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& k$ \( d5 ^' p: a40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 j* ~5 w$ C6 Q7 n1 i$ tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; d9 ?& _2 ~: t5 l6 P5 r" Q1 A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" X+ K, s* A5 I, [. T* V! }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 }7 ^4 X5 G/ g z" O8 @( s8 ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- ^! U3 @* k# u7 ?+ S9 G
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: ^# B+ Q8 f; E( }; E ?# J
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
