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" A& B# C. Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 k9 W! p+ T0 uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- J* K+ a/ M- @& L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, @% g( a2 J" k/ V' [9 ^answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 h) z" f5 y7 \; ?& C. I3 i
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( }0 G( n1 i; r
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) {5 b* y. [$ W6 dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. _" w, ^ I: [, a4 Q5 ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
1 L. f3 s1 Y# X- v. W. X" imedical schools.( b9 m4 h! J6 V) `
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 b# Q' q. j9 b- ]8 B% c2 Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! }( {- X5 X9 n% _7 K. vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) s8 _8 [! I G" S1 x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# Z2 C U, q2 u% Y! ^is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 R) S2 t+ e% C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 L' l8 @" H$ t! F8 {5 b4 b
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 c! ^# \$ m/ Z6 m- }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( i$ B8 I& M! G/ X2 m
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some. v- P4 M4 m; i6 B3 A' N
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! A$ d. ]* x: D7 f( W- {( T
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 ~6 l: J5 f2 l% yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ A& Y5 \2 l/ _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people ?1 V4 j0 w& b0 r- C
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ Z* }* ~; U0 D8 ^, ^& j9 n. T
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- w7 z7 e+ x8 K( ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& x! [9 S* b! a+ ?; _: f+ G9 D' S
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 C$ n2 p! U* S) u; jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ |) |" m% x- D* ^6 n+ Q9 d9 sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& K- Q$ f/ N! A' o( B& d. b5 e
charge the fee defined by the state.6 u2 b2 _4 {5 D" g0 B6 X
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# q( R Q7 z! \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; r1 ]8 U- P4 i, Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 w9 y4 h4 K/ w. `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
/ }1 Z8 X+ w( cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 ~/ ?. Y. z2 n8 M' C+ o% {" v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 z/ h1 r0 L; {2 ?* S- H# x3 xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ P5 z$ a4 V* c5 p
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, Y4 [ u! l8 k/ @1 e y6 n
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! h8 Z$ O8 J9 E2 Z. s0 s7 Bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) y) m2 z4 ^$ g8 i" F: d F, ~people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ v' e$ s: `8 Lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ e" }+ Z+ C. n( G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 g2 \ o3 l, q
are spaces.3 ^: `1 D( o" H. Y; X4 {
* D- u, r" K5 ~' H) U0 VThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 a1 }$ g6 j* f) ~- ?+ c* K: S& d
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" i0 \5 |4 r# m' r' x9 |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* \ r1 j4 |! O5 n: u9 n
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 }# ^8 |7 n: O$ u
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the v7 X( H. j0 c3 S* @
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ ^' o7 K# S9 H: A( d/ v; ~( [+ Fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ |5 H, s) `# u9 m' K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" {' b0 m8 V2 F7 t' C, Q8 R5 A' ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) N! Y( K6 Q ?9 }( N
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
