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) t8 l( m. W/ s: D& w
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 v# b( ]7 [! K5 A- P
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ |1 Z2 {3 ?. V"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, L4 G; z, P7 n( e; @3 Canswers to our pointed questions.' V3 d9 y- W9 s
4 o8 @6 B0 R: R1 p/ v2 D" H( [The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. i" E; q3 a q) x9 I+ z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 ^% B% \3 ^0 L
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- K% F5 U8 C* n$ \4 D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 t- g/ ]# _, @. n. j) O* \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: N; M& y4 S7 J% ^ Xmedical schools.
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& ?3 v4 z( U( LEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ E/ a- Q! |8 E- a# E4 j$ R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 [( i4 K# J7 j7 ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 g" k' j( M4 g4 ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 ^0 h$ u. E* s- C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* u& u+ g$ Y0 d9 h- u3 T" L. X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; `3 }* O6 s8 ]3 V! c" A
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" C( @8 m: v, R+ Q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 E4 P F+ ?& X6 bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some, F6 W, X+ i3 k, Y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ }: j& s* N& p+ {8 _3 t, P* U
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no C' \6 p. P M
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ w9 O3 _7 t7 F) x: h' Rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 U, C; }4 M% p2 D. b- Mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 N. E( h' S M% _& u7 h' z9 Y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# g! b( z; M6 {3 V s
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- S0 D# z! A2 u% }* }4 y/ Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* ]* P9 J" ?+ q& t) I# nDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: _* W9 D! W+ m1 R' Ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 t1 s: {/ q1 s/ J3 [+ M& x6 o* i% c
charge the fee defined by the state.& K4 D9 U& ~5 w, D* [# F& T
' r2 `7 D/ ` u0 s0 z( g2 QThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 D" K# p9 s$ h+ G4 p; Aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ T$ d% u M. @6 J7 [/ l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. x U8 e I5 V, ?' btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' q; \ I) P3 f1 |* k% M
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* V+ E7 H9 t; E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 G; P7 `8 N' \6 ^1 I4 _schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if# i" \5 ?3 ~9 N- a0 P6 q: }# b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 H& A( U+ i+ R/ O' M4 d1 v" }trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- x- C# X2 v$ C/ p: d8 d7 ~( n+ dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, q" |) J8 d8 Z R
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 O3 l! [$ e2 L4 i
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% z/ I8 z# ?8 ?7 d! f( ^8 r8 c+ Abuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# ]- d9 X, _% d2 G* E# A+ g* \are spaces.) t5 O( u O: L: A
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 X7 {6 C' n( y% Z* q ]# gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# O1 X5 D4 H+ E cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 n R/ K7 x7 K2 ]7 \% g+ p40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 Q* N. ?( p A' A, e4 k! J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- y, H/ W9 p" M5 R. ~
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% V7 p- N* n* E2 t$ U$ s) h5 Mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& D3 I( J* S) e" [. a0 ^
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' t- W, u( f1 x6 S/ h8 f+ Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; D: k9 s: j% Z1 l* }. t We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
