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
( F1 D6 L) B# |; ]3 z2 u" _- P# tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: L( t# Z" {- }( l8 G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ~% J! n, ?8 N$ U! ]' B! Y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 _; l" E6 F& q, h/ k
answers to our pointed questions.) }% J# e5 T% y6 E/ k* R7 x6 f
- R$ M* y7 x$ I* `# VThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; w4 V( E. H Q$ V& Z6 L: p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: _7 u: s6 E' N+ u( W
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
- B$ m6 c& z) cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. P# D. F3 n( r; C8 O4 Y7 v0 ]
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 [' C1 |& G" O/ N2 x, d2 \
medical schools.+ l: r7 C% k: {* i; c0 s. W0 _. z! m
3 N6 E+ F3 I5 ^+ u0 }Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& i. n# F# k9 C4 W6 f& Q! K
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 x j' G' Y: }9 p5 N3 A$ v1 g& t5 B% bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 [. z( }8 l1 I0 h7 E i$ d. O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( R5 b) |/ `" H% `2 P$ z& u+ U
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 a6 x* T( k/ tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ ~/ L( B) Y# R3 e
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 I6 ?; H3 i) o8 Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 i U3 Q, _; V- I- A. Pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some; F: }# n# r! _+ p
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
6 L: @: J+ a" r: j- q2 [- e- |3 @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 `5 X: v9 E' i: v& x+ {
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 e# q- T2 X# \7 h+ S# O& D' r$ T
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" _0 R( K, Z4 d8 J1 L- Cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- c% r# q6 R Z& F/ p) b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! t. @6 s$ T, T! c7 jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ X- w$ b0 a- U- G2 o
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 @3 w- ] J% V+ c" L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
. k; N1 ?6 v" D* x/ Mcharge the fee defined by the state.( G# F, _ W3 |: e" J" K
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) C4 S4 M* H3 T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, x2 B4 C1 z, _1 W, ^6 r" s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 e8 H, d6 t% a8 o' Q- l
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 L+ N7 a- L2 R! [, j6 ?# ~" L* c2 ~
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 L' j' S% ?* p: p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, h+ y8 _/ @! Eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- G2 k t$ w1 O' f
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. u! w b: @& R% P5 x% a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( R9 `0 G, s5 A% K$ X8 Q& d
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ F. ], @) D( I# gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; c% y j8 K7 ?3 g' K& C2 w
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" u. q/ Z- g! X3 ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& N8 |) Z: W% x, J4 aare spaces.
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; E/ i' U. D- V1 ?, FThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" ]6 v' Y9 \5 g) R ^* wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 o( l/ \0 B7 i7 I, s: M' {own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ z$ o( M( A. {7 z( h& _# d* x+ D' _
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% K( g- V: J) a; c$ T8 u- R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ w0 H0 \$ t, K" Y9 u0 }7 Pbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
# @, `; |% m( A# v9 I2 k5 ^/ {0 ^/ |nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) A( Q i w5 R% q3 G& N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ A& M! @; O8 t3 Lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. i3 k; R; S1 Y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
