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- }+ P' c, ^1 Q/ Y4 j
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 p( U1 w" y7 g6 `; Q! Don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ l, o8 I% N' ~$ f+ |) @4 u5 ^: j/ i
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" d* R( U6 A: z% |$ _; h
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" W" W/ w: e& L$ h4 u* P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- A3 W+ r% K3 K* j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: e1 V0 O& k+ y/ _- rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" ?! |6 F8 _: \4 X% c& X! Zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! ] W! C7 d% S% w: g
medical schools.4 U; W: k3 o: s8 i# V8 g
' h/ ^$ ?6 w3 t( d2 a; @' LEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; ~+ C# X/ a5 _! ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
I* E9 [4 z+ Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ i+ L3 C) @5 z# A$ ] Massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( A8 ^9 h2 ^2 I* H8 P) wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; h, `$ `( s* t! Hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' U5 \9 X0 G1 o, b4 P, Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" ]# s$ S" ]1 Zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. t' z) ^% E. B
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! P9 m# O7 q. s2 c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 m4 `0 V. K) C6 }4 v0 [ }private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 f$ U5 g0 n, M) ~" Q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' }5 m4 F& I, ^0 K4 Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 t% y0 l2 l o9 f+ [: e3 Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' |8 E2 t8 M0 {" Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 e' ]* I* F# }& r( r% ]* @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" f4 i& [! t6 U+ T9 `8 O' cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% M# a2 X F! Y+ U( O/ A- j6 ?: sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. L" ]4 K# N- C. p$ S
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ ]# J* S( O+ C2 Q. t3 g+ I
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: j6 c6 d! F' Y, r {* `' H
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ P: B# O0 y7 |2 F2 s2 q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 O( x" w2 w; J5 r X0 S* Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( z. t- O) P# d4 O4 W$ n9 R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 l3 t/ F u, J, ~" mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, R( V" P' F+ r" t- E
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 `6 w: z9 v9 h* ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" |: u7 ]: v/ p, Q( `& J+ B6 c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ k- X' I0 G8 w1 H' _; upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* u7 j1 G1 W2 @5 l( B( D, E
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 Q, p" Z0 Y$ j+ }# C
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 I/ v; w+ R- p7 [- I! p$ Y4 B
are spaces.. i1 @( W' P. n$ Q
, p3 Y% k0 N) F5 C2 tThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ S7 U9 @1 e. r9 X7 T! O( E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 C7 `2 C$ h- }+ Cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ ?3 q/ N9 W& {) u: }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% i& E' C2 M6 mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ A8 t! @3 ?0 O6 J3 t/ w3 `
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. x% r. y5 ]8 l5 O6 lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& D- P, E9 Q; _, F7 ^
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! t8 g' b0 W2 o) H! u3 @9 Yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 J5 g1 @% I/ o( j: h7 `0 ?+ O
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
