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
1 H4 L7 }! H* s* vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* z, t7 W6 K+ x% X$ h& Hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
( Z! W8 X3 Q5 Z5 R; b"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 q9 J' `6 q* l, i# {
answers to our pointed questions.- ^( E9 {+ X5 a* G' d( c3 w/ X f
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: c# y" [4 Y4 C( a( q) k
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 F" ?) Q0 u7 j3 B' {
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 e$ w* r# ? e# _2 ^free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 C6 V0 a$ w- h+ i/ ~; Y! ?+ I
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 `, R/ ~3 v, Rmedical schools.
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& o& V# Y0 f$ ]/ S6 F6 S2 T0 TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" ?/ h D% R5 I e6 L7 @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" P' e: g5 K. G ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ m: Y" Z' h7 n/ u. v2 ~' f$ `# n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; K1 }* m+ u3 b& L3 y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 J6 v& L/ R8 L5 }over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 l/ G# m, i3 j2 P! q5 y: V# c' M4 ~4 y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) Y* ~+ O) k) c. W
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
. a. ]# `& R. w5 C E; ]9 M; B9 Tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 x* o8 Z( E$ C& D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( Q6 E, `6 }- H
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* k; |9 Q8 A1 ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 Y! Z4 U3 v3 b$ v5 ?supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* R8 Q& _2 M) F# | qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good d/ H% ^& U% v' K( N
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 r; t N8 p1 U6 \1 S7 a
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& F. b( Z0 u* |/ `& z& Xdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 o5 A; u4 q/ L$ ~ o( Q# S( xDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# h) a" G. W+ f& {) B$ h$ L% ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
" |" |& |' q. W2 }: p, Echarge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# S! D% x/ B$ v8 p
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 c, a( Z i0 G/ x3 w4 X/ W9 i
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' X* f* I9 c5 q/ T9 {" O
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% d- f* j4 \% ?, ]4 c, @$ N
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
Q- W* x% p- x7 S2 F! hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' }% @+ C' a6 b, ^$ Uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 H8 v5 }( R: lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ d* t- X* p/ S+ s( F" [$ vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% t- w. Y# [( A) Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% p: a o% [ t- m: f& S
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
c, A/ F; O( z! ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 w: o& x# \* e C+ ^, y% w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ w* q! g* m4 Z* gare spaces.& N5 \* b; w2 m4 y0 M& p
; \3 \. M, p, I1 W0 T9 C0 Z; l! NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 X" M4 k b2 b; b+ n" I# I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 Y0 B2 ?6 i' G' P$ aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! Y4 {. ]" x" y2 H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% {+ O! ^( J4 g Lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 k; y, t0 q4 c3 M { E4 sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few( f* M% O( P6 D- K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; T! D5 g- i4 q! V5 m' r. ?car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, L4 @# I+ M, ~$ B0 d+ Ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., s; {6 o1 ^# q& x, c: D
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
