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
: d- k0 U# Z0 k. a, zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ s9 X8 ~* b+ M6 R) b( S* T9 s* {' x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 f0 A: m* P, ]! n" n' Y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! T$ b5 D7 R: _
answers to our pointed questions.
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0 W0 b8 K4 o' ?The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' W+ y' c& [* h* w+ U" ]0 M
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) d5 c+ w7 M, M3 A3 i0 `
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 T: j/ d' V! R! E1 j S) P
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' G; \( B2 f- F, L
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 V' u: b) P, v, @9 Cmedical schools.: _6 n; s4 d+ v+ }1 h) M
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 f$ D* F; @( N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 B% e( B! w& p( w: H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 c" M0 a; `& n0 s2 V* Aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, M% O% x! _* D# \; j5 g. E; i
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 R! \& k; @& M9 T& {
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: u1 s) c. M. r. q% `% Z8 g4 Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: d* p, p1 K5 p- G
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ u8 w% H9 Y0 t5 u
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some) |; Z, N! u( I, E0 k
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. R# }2 @& N9 U H6 t6 j- K* a
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" [5 C( S% J2 F m$ X6 @4 pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) H1 _0 |' Z5 H" R7 p- p0 |supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ X0 o* `$ ], H4 T' Ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ l0 y7 _+ ?/ e% [9 m
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 |+ U1 ~9 X8 O m6 W: W2 d7 a( y2 Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 R6 w9 p6 d& U6 l+ @8 P/ y a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 w2 U2 X) o. v+ |- r5 k
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 `; Q6 E0 L! [3 c
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 F8 g: z' L! C. g, k9 ccharge the fee defined by the state.; a2 h* r/ |* x. H1 q0 K- C& _
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: ~1 C" y% v) j, M! N$ ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type0 v% J4 p1 g/ I8 ]$ V& G1 }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# s; P9 U( @) w, _- c0 i' E1 _9 Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 Y8 a* o5 x$ J) K6 H2 M: A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ G2 a0 |% D( E8 g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* [8 G! ~5 {3 |5 k3 t. O" Jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 K- q' d, y# @you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 Y9 m j0 p# |6 b# i' g6 \3 R$ Jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: _. y/ x0 p3 phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 C `9 b8 |! Bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# o: ?6 }$ t! h( V4 Eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or R8 @! ]5 R9 G" Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& n( N* p6 C" ?7 @6 q/ r/ T$ k6 H/ nare spaces.
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7 {* r- R4 {7 pThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: b) v+ Z% q9 b0 Z K( M- Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 {7 ^& G7 @/ p# c" Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ Z$ ~5 L. A% y+ ^2 |
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ ^: d+ R. X" D/ Qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 M. Z% d" Q0 ?1 O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; Z' ~, A' U4 Knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# v. x6 f* ~* x/ l. }$ R0 q" B
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; ~, m: h4 w9 E( H- \+ p9 @
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) c7 Q# D1 `* g4 ?% n% Q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
