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 W, C* c5 C+ n0 Y7 ?1 B
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 z1 B# ^+ g G& h# von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: m) a; S; R4 I6 q1 j$ \. O1 b3 c6 v
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. q, A2 S9 P1 W* Banswers to our pointed questions.( \8 L7 }$ Z8 n3 F
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 T7 v2 @) V) R8 Y7 B5 j45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 n3 f+ J' z( _6 o% V( fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ r5 v2 _& R) Y# [% x' f$ E! [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% `) o" ^: q. Z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) ]0 z: m$ s- R! i, ~* F; b9 ]( b
medical schools. z5 u7 D: B' {* y
+ T4 T! P" K {9 E1 x$ aEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 G7 M: `; h- l m
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* _* D( U+ \* L' L- [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. j, Y4 e" q* w3 @% X, f7 [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 D% S, Y3 U% s7 P
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 X$ K, S0 L/ B- |) k, o9 E5 N
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& i, w$ I7 e A0 a: A {* y! Tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. B+ b o( y. S
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 y$ Q3 ~) N6 p7 F" W
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; s0 g) u) t. K" q8 F- \
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 T& v d+ o' t2 l5 _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( L1 [9 ?8 m2 |/ t5 b- y9 P
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& @6 s1 U* x* f* v; h1 Ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 u* o( U: u5 Y' @/ C& A$ Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% T- A2 q9 w. ]" K0 m/ D3 Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 _; v5 b& |& r. G; p' z& L" L" \
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) k" W2 b D+ LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 F f6 T! H+ m0 B1 ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% _+ m) |9 @3 W- a
charge the fee defined by the state.
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" `4 M1 D u `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; }& x$ B" O5 ?" K* r( U8 @) M
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 H- n7 j8 E9 x; Y1 o( }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' ~. c; @" i. C3 G* ~: R# l1 dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% s, Q$ T) L4 w2 p9 b6 Gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# \( w4 f& H) A, oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( @* d! f# o$ B9 N w% s* Yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 O T) C& t* d1 W+ D( W5 a7 X" H9 K9 i
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
5 H, G, w2 [/ Ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, }& S& g; z) Z Q4 C
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# R9 c7 ]6 N. z/ r3 I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: r1 U9 _6 ?& i5 M9 Cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" I& A& q8 U i) U# e8 z3 r
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( J0 m0 j1 m3 z2 @9 E6 u* s1 zare spaces.% I3 ~0 W# n! [' Y
2 h7 F. E1 x7 L& Q6 `8 W, FThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 a1 E& O, ~2 @" i7 j$ @
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. W2 b6 U; T" z5 N; Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 |7 e2 n" e& j2 m+ i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ Y) I$ `$ {+ N5 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 p% l* W' C$ o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* I J& {" t, D4 @' ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# p- V+ f- d$ H& ~/ }: C! P
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 l# s( G5 ]) q, E" G
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
i- N; j( R/ e- u: w0 w/ f: ] We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
