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
3 O# y, Z; _/ _& s2 {7 Bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
`) w, n v( p W- Yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) W* ~8 I: H. _( W! P n6 Q4 K"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; P0 t% [8 V/ Q, ~
answers to our pointed questions.8 f' _3 i' ]$ v. I" j1 d% L
* `2 m; P/ ~2 z- r$ P* j4 z dThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, T. t# e2 o: ^9 y1 S: L
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 V1 n$ i |4 s: i9 V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 L# X( e, u# D# R# _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# U1 l& g2 }! T# z2 r/ t
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ k+ a/ }( Y. S3 D0 mmedical schools.8 r" ?2 |; j2 M" ~. o8 A, s
: b7 V' l6 x9 m8 m( [# v" VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% q6 R% x5 R0 z( U" |! N8 r5 zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 i ]* C4 a( bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 E7 ], l! P( t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- H* G# N4 r$ @5 Sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" c; P6 H0 M B! e
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* c7 Q$ M" }+ _& X: Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- L$ c$ g$ o7 {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk i; c! X0 p# I" s( p" z2 ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 i+ d7 H! a/ Qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 z1 \3 i) v5 v$ ?) t D! R' L
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
, o; T r) d8 u5 R5 ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 g2 ~4 I" b. c" X* }( t4 y# w
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( o+ ]0 D6 m, b1 K/ m# \
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' E. v3 [/ r- S! L3 r. |( m: msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 ^# U( o( i: ?, O; T. ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 }( Q" C4 _. o, {. ]4 Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ M; A: C( S' Q. O% Y& l9 ?% z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- F6 H; B6 _* I" p l
charge the fee defined by the state.3 l2 |5 J, c$ Q8 y
4 b ~ {/ c2 E! eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( z" `: J& A- ~& B5 S# \5 X: Q% J" m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 i' K. Q$ L$ B7 z! D3 S! Wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 T( u* _$ V- p. s: e: D+ B6 Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- x- m ]2 q: C) _ B
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, x8 }0 C1 b! y% p( c% wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, }1 G) r2 H/ X/ ~5 N6 Z/ ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* I: ^7 o0 `8 h" d, h& @you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 @2 |1 u; C+ t. a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. g, q; m" x; `( r& \& Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
^$ z, u7 P: Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- t. J8 d* ]6 d+ cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; k1 B9 a, x" M+ n5 }6 x- {4 |1 q0 c
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 d5 l8 M: Y+ O/ I& q% g
are spaces.
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2 G7 d0 j2 [' m- h/ w: DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 i, f" e3 d q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( }0 ^8 @9 w4 f3 c9 ^# gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* \! h I! W" s5 s% _
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 x( `* C! P7 u. @. M2 H3 k
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* M# F# b a Hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 n9 b0 \( z5 i% Z! u% W
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* I, v0 z3 `& C( W& S% Pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- @7 J* e) [. @3 V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 U8 ?' X( F7 _" P6 `1 g
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
