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+ L: v1 w- V: Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' \- }6 b& b! W5 m$ _: c) Non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, K; m( ^( l! N r1 z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 L1 q/ m1 B7 u! T4 o
answers to our pointed questions.; {7 f2 k. @) c n
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 X0 a# x. B# Q$ n& U! l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 h) C6 G( ?5 w. Mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% X" Z: G; w' @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( q' n; G8 l7 i" @- O
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 @6 f/ p" X6 l) C( }
medical schools.
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% v t4 d+ j/ FEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) }* Z! {4 N A$ ?" O* q) h9 Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 V6 |1 m! ~5 ]# Vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- e) k5 e. H1 |' g* a
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 @ F; x1 Q, c2 B! Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) \# M4 n2 [' c" c! ?* S6 @over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% a" I7 k* a+ D5 I+ ~9 c7 E v& [ \4 Iseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 p6 O' Q) ] h% ]: }4 _
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, x* t& D# q* r* X% Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some! `. B O/ ]/ ^- q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 I$ B+ N1 N: G$ q0 ^$ _5 Uprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: ~, E2 E( G4 H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 O, h' C+ \! p$ e2 `+ g$ } F5 ihave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 k: I6 F0 M8 _3 `& h0 p2 d
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& a& J+ U: f7 z- G4 T, xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& }9 [1 W: n( ^* i1 Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) n) k8 G; C/ b8 ?, i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When3 E5 @2 d; n9 G
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 ~; h4 {/ g+ \$ ` Qcharge the fee defined by the state.( Q+ B! I; L. F, g T h2 i. o
4 R/ y9 Y* q( ]1 iThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: n/ m. K$ B" k! h
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: M% e7 I: q( o, [
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ h* A" O {4 Ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% p J! l0 N6 }5 \8 w oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
m5 _& F" O# L6 d, M+ H5 }) {working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( t2 \+ Y- O% a: v% Q( f: gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- q, _. W! g. M9 ^ a6 q# l
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* _" n! O) {. A1 W9 Q' ]trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' r2 S: c8 T6 y* A. j8 R4 khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# t" M+ v% d; ~8 n" i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- K9 S* Y1 h: M0 F# V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ y' ~% C' L- J$ M3 K* M+ Fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# Z4 D1 R& g$ [
are spaces.' T4 C& Z% F6 B
' a3 s3 t, s" \3 h: jThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 D) J8 C" `0 w. kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 x" x. j5 ~9 j! N6 p
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
8 Y( u6 N( r) m0 y& K40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ i2 E9 y- h6 ]4 b L$ Q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! E7 D# U1 q& ^& J) Cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 _) O3 k/ X3 W, y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) |: T/ Y4 W+ n V$ q. U* J
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" c4 ?# y0 m. c% Y4 w. kis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% B! X+ q4 s9 d7 [/ ` We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
