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" k$ E& k |6 \5 F7 p
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" v; C: Z! S7 A0 Non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 ?$ p* R1 }9 ]* n7 v5 `, ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 k0 U, ^! {4 k. L9 \4 R) Nanswers to our pointed questions.
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& C; a1 R( L& z: z9 o" ^The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: {: J6 K8 R4 d8 e) l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( L7 h& U/ w! W6 K. D) iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* i8 m8 W$ V6 x" T8 d% Pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 W6 h' B, R4 @$ [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. h r/ O7 Y8 j. v& [! lmedical schools., N7 n" x5 I1 K. \7 R
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# A! Q' ?+ w- U" ]3 D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 [- S$ s! C8 j0 Z1 p( t" ?
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; v# ~7 ^/ l- h4 |& `assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 r, ?) o, M' u& C" eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 { ~4 x' D1 r# |over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ Z b, [$ U h: J: O( `/ v0 kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 D6 I8 L }5 S" ?& A, C
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 Z% S8 _4 A+ Y4 Y h6 zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some( Y' q, Y0 \- A8 X4 n
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, E* y0 t5 Z! c! UThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 W2 u5 {0 e$ B2 L
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 C' r3 G) }6 U* lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; B1 H8 s, N3 O4 ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- o& D# |) S- x$ Q! y7 [6 e; r! F4 a
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ Z( \3 l% B v2 A# G' ^- }* Y5 p9 I
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) E0 s) e& B# I1 d, H6 c, {
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 |2 I# W. R5 ~' r5 \Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! K) G. a3 E! Z* x$ B# d1 Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( p1 _ Z! C' y- M9 F1 X0 Fcharge the fee defined by the state.
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4 g$ u4 _; t& X8 x& L: M7 HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- @/ Q, I2 v2 q" {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: M% H4 H2 H: W+ ] Y! C8 n& J
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 t L! A- W7 u3 G% v1 B- G% X
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
! [( S$ J x/ V7 x- M$ a! Mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 u: s6 C. [8 z7 y+ I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 P2 y! L5 |0 b T& n
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% x( V ~( f. Y- e1 S [% P% xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) f( a' o- w# a C; }- V2 z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ b: K& u% L0 f$ d& g6 y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, A9 g) l8 w1 B- U# w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ U+ W: ]0 v6 }4 bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* j2 c7 H3 U \, T* W0 Z( u# Qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ \. R+ a: e, p9 W# Pare spaces.
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; q4 H8 K+ l$ A% w$ WThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- V/ m. C. q+ n9 H5 W
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 o6 M! K6 h& y' ]5 {' c" s# h
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; T/ o4 _. W2 d& n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 U) Y) H0 A' Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& K+ M6 |4 z6 J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" j3 @* z* F bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& n e7 P$ L/ _$ N7 ?( f+ Z5 ?
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# D5 |5 i( j A: k9 h( X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. x7 ~' X4 K8 Y. d/ l- ?# k' K We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
