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
( A0 F8 v0 B# jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ R7 V# P ~; [/ k, m
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 B' O9 G }) v# y A( U1 H" J"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 \. R& l8 S4 a6 I3 o
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: Q1 \5 d1 |( {" Y M+ R1 b5 F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, x! t( B L8 q Q x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 F, X- X8 f2 W& u6 a ?- y$ |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ a4 R+ \! {$ Z+ q7 ~- }' }: Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 w/ p, P3 j0 H" z t; h% |
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the: n& u, \# N9 j& {$ f4 e$ a! y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! `# u0 _6 r" O' W4 h5 l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; |" {7 V1 }9 H0 }1 {2 C
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ ~/ F* F3 x1 [) F* ]) L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' y. ^7 t; q5 Z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ i5 \) h( t: p% i0 x
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# U1 R) B" N) N
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* [$ {$ T( K. t5 I f% a
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 R5 p% I0 A! P G1 Vsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
2 [' b' Q9 W: K$ b1 e# o: ]" C' xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and k' |6 Z' a5 b* A9 ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' ?& J$ a B& R) qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! |) E! Z; [. [4 i/ M3 c Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 c- J3 r" ~0 ]+ A; y b3 x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, t+ n, L& r: b1 u( k; c( M, I2 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; Z+ V4 h+ P0 k# C4 F- {) C {Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ i! r$ H% I) X$ L. T, }3 a' {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% L5 T# J5 D2 q# H: q8 Tcharge the fee defined by the state.( d8 D8 ~3 }" `- d! V. Y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
O$ I, e; `' V+ v4 I7 c% V, @/ \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
5 ]2 P1 y" U/ E3 w5 Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" T" v! ~5 G. r6 [( U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 d4 u9 _& v$ N
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! ]4 e* A: ^, p0 B, S3 E% c" b; x% S
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 r- h" G* B3 L7 V- o" P0 Mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 E# }8 V4 ]7 D( P; q+ |4 Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' l8 I6 v9 p: I. c( D+ I3 |7 f! m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! f' [) {$ l' _- ^ }+ N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 ?& O0 c' w7 Q1 x0 r$ K
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) J; R/ k. I C7 `: p
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; g' X8 L. }0 V! j
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 ^+ n( n5 [6 ]7 P; zare spaces.
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6 g' G% S4 s2 wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* D, `1 x; ]$ p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 y+ m# j9 P. G- A+ e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; W' B/ X3 ~$ A
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: l; W+ ^8 \& C* V* g# q( w3 ?parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' k8 P R5 W3 P! P, i
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% O0 `4 s9 X; C% P: H0 v& gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 k+ r% T4 ^, _6 Z, Q j; p- v! f
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) E6 N7 V% [4 ~8 Y/ o) w, ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# b+ \2 k; \- }+ ~) ^4 s9 L$ a We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
