我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living0 g- Y2 a3 m; x9 F3 f) [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 z5 T( ]! d/ J8 s8 t/ J$ w0 d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 I1 \; Q7 p7 m' w# h& X
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 R4 v; I2 d/ D3 K1 i, c' [& C: uanswers to our pointed questions.9 Z& g @$ I- g' D! P% ^$ f" ?9 {. J
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ U- o" q6 B/ e5 t0 _
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 V7 W5 f6 s4 u- @5 p+ }# l0 ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 ]5 j3 a, N) J" E# b# Jfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, k" ]0 b/ ^3 V, u9 vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 p: T9 `$ j' i$ I4 S! V5 Qmedical schools.
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5 p% \$ W+ s1 g+ sEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 K- M- K' H% F# Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- s: \: E6 I3 [4 d% Xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 z+ d8 t x& k4 {2 i) ]/ lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: m: N& @* Q# u" t. K D6 g/ X1 ?" Y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 K. ~! |' l# L% u; b) }. I, vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; B9 X6 @" r; j* b4 U: |8 r7 Jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
# n) b( ?, T/ ?5 P+ E0 amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ [! U5 `/ H. c" }* zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 w0 f$ }$ y" X V8 A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& e( h% t, P9 k, Z
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 h# K1 O3 z* S+ v" Z2 Wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
, [& D g2 I5 V3 Ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 S: i+ V9 o& d# _: e2 I |. J0 s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- |( d7 n6 W0 Y# D5 ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 x6 |* _+ ~; n2 B/ [2 U" ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# g; o8 d& M2 V4 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 w1 h2 E- d n: {* h3 EDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 I/ k- g9 k5 |( o& R8 {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% @& f& l; }4 t: x' x
charge the fee defined by the state.
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5 u+ B; W/ n5 e# k( ^4 P4 v2 cThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
J: I) l6 r0 Q# h; D3 D+ Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 |- J" O' T' Y$ z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ l- G' z( ?- o" _1 X2 t- }+ U/ O' P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' Q4 M, k: c% p: R1 ]; V; _8 Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- `9 i9 k9 g* l- [7 K1 r# _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& J, ]" B' B( {, ~
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 h' Q( x# R3 c, S) i3 xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 v/ q/ h( C6 U5 p: m2 j- l% D1 N) W" Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; S/ K8 C4 }/ J$ {3 i f. N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* A4 e8 [) g3 ]- e7 L7 o0 B& Q& npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 i3 [2 ?! w; T4 a7 V( r5 Sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ g2 v! [/ G. k8 [. w: L
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 T; F+ v7 N. m0 V
are spaces.. B1 R G- c: [" i p0 |/ d$ W
% j# K: r# o# H+ A. }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) S q8 b* I" {7 Z% Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 `4 d4 D3 f/ s0 }1 I
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, u) H* n5 L- q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% m% O' ]7 Q) q+ a, h1 a. Eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 t' x5 X0 w4 d. nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( q7 M- ~* P5 g3 b( Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 Z" P1 t; s+ \, {5 u, ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; X% ?) }5 T% |0 w5 K6 Mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ H& M* N3 F$ `' o. R# f. X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
