我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 E" w2 {# ^$ b/ s8 z: N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 M& [) d- L+ T; H
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 P' k% f. W* \3 f; k"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( W9 I0 G3 ]6 K. F5 xanswers to our pointed questions.
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r, w3 Q1 w3 ?) v% uThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 D* ~- V2 e& C0 B45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 Z( z# n4 j, `; O/ [0 P$ H5 Zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 H0 G( V3 E" |7 Zfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 }! ~: b- Z0 U3 J( g E/ B& `0 ^) [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' s" \( S8 D& X. smedical schools., J8 ?. i6 c2 u4 I
% D. W# x+ u, _' d& s% ^( TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 S5 N3 x, h. m, Q" u; ?3 v. G
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; J3 w# u1 g' @8 C/ h3 {+ Q4 I# S zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 C, x1 G2 D3 I# G2 Wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% J- H" d1 o5 ]2 T
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ R/ M: k6 S3 K5 d3 B- e" z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 ]" r$ X& ^! G% O) q+ H+ g4 q7 c) S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. p, d# F4 u& v, T. l( I$ R% xmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ C' f- Q$ @- a, G2 x5 _
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) l# ~* k5 q, c7 o O! Hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 A, I& _2 q! T2 i, w0 e+ g
1 p% ]5 X' F! M3 SThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" U2 `' R; E' N0 k) l' G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ f* V; E9 z9 K0 n0 Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: N- B- o# m7 j; k) J$ Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! q6 j' \( C# W; Q' N6 Z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 `) ^, n7 \6 J/ R4 f8 a9 u8 ?1 G: A
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 m% |' E# F+ p! F9 ^3 G
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 Y5 d/ P3 u# e$ r2 T1 |, P" sDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& R; U0 L6 [9 m" V! za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 O: r' H9 q# ?* @7 Y- ^! x- n
charge the fee defined by the state.& O5 v) n' b- P+ _, v
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 \8 k5 E" C0 f. Y. o2 Won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: U( l1 a. e& @- j4 N0 h7 Rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* J' S- w6 Y: s. ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, P. y9 n4 D4 e4 m' E8 V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. H5 T _6 P; l$ t; _1 p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, p v8 }" X7 B( I6 L
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. U# b0 w7 O) F/ r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. d8 k! u$ {$ N* {5 D0 ], `
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' e/ s* C- z1 l3 c8 W
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 l% T4 p4 V5 A; j" s, W: L' zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
$ z/ g! V3 n1 u" A/ [& gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# Z7 } x4 j, u" Y2 C5 }. I1 Gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) q* [+ y) \7 qare spaces.( [& ~7 y8 U0 w, D% m/ L" `" e
3 M& D& \( B/ K( m* k* aThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; T# n2 Z7 o' C. {5 }to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 g3 M8 ], c. d* Hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 S% W9 t4 E5 r( r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 _# J5 F* b4 o1 v# Z: M
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 @' Y' H3 v0 G2 T$ z6 z6 {7 jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* ?$ ]1 G4 Z% _* s
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of. ~2 \3 O! D# i' M+ u" W9 y7 g
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& K+ d6 Q4 _) L+ k- Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. b4 B) \. b9 Y We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
