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
$ I" S0 L/ f1 k4 X$ m" P( Ystandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 i5 Y- T6 L# K* a3 c( }+ J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 K0 n: ^! a' w9 T4 d6 c
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 p8 N O) A! Z4 g* e( E2 u
answers to our pointed questions.
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2 d. F& K# p, ]$ \- L9 zThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 V4 y9 Y' H1 m' c. Z$ M. C1 E- }
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# U- i* z$ s I2 g1 Kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, y/ r0 l& \9 y# T7 Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- T: n, m/ D, T8 E
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( K7 X5 j. b( _- O
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 |6 e( @3 s0 }% {
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# \; e6 e& z: E% {- _4 `9 _; B) Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: o# `) K/ q! R6 v- o# b7 dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" {$ q% y5 x) I1 B
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; n" s+ O, y) h8 h' |# r# L/ @
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* r) Z4 g/ Q: n" W0 \8 sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' a1 n* E3 _4 v' k. `# p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ d u# h7 W1 a7 B( [' J4 a; O- [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% I/ X6 c+ J7 T) R! F# o' J2 ?8 V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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" O! n; M3 d8 [8 O! o x( _$ HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( A+ E) F/ [6 y- J/ W* ~ pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. s# u5 x1 ~4 m9 ]: C, h2 hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 ]4 T/ C4 s( y$ W" S* n3 g
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" e% f6 o0 l# A( ~- D0 S
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 |5 U: ~, P2 k$ `6 m* ^' D
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& J( K" J, {0 sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 v% p5 ?" g9 o! b0 e
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ U1 Q. k% P. l7 P3 a8 d) V5 ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' T- E; {8 u9 Z0 }/ M/ S% o4 R
charge the fee defined by the state.% k/ f( i) i" K0 a! x
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. c4 s t$ f. Q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ z3 z$ n' w5 J6 F& f% l/ J" P* C1 ?
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: k G( G: Y+ ^" ?6 v% H: T. [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! _! K6 Q: n6 {8 W2 ]
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, }$ l+ r$ k7 f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" q, b. [; I% H' k/ {9 q* Vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& V8 k$ C( C' n2 [" m4 u
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 N: d5 v: H) x, ltrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 x: w2 L4 ]1 i. ^% y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# P; i, X0 x1 f( \
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 N4 h4 R+ S! i. u; a9 O# l* J$ j* Dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 D/ ]/ n# j$ } p9 ~; p9 jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( R% t" q2 @9 z2 }; l, A8 F- _2 zare spaces.
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; v0 ~' g* z. S) _$ k6 qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 g1 x8 _6 f3 ^, Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
0 W4 t" p; R/ m) z1 z$ Y3 J* Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- ^9 Y) d- Z6 }% [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 c A/ F" |# n% `7 Z* J6 y& _
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 W* i: V( {2 f$ \best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ s3 s2 w/ s2 m1 b1 g @1 C6 R
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: p% C: F$ q! {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. D8 c; I8 R# ~/ h F" j& }0 s& Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* M4 E: l1 B: h1 L6 }$ M' q4 M) l
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
