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
8 m& e& T5 z* {) R* T# Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) a$ S7 b+ A u% b
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 u1 W a. C4 Y/ e+ o$ X, l/ s"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& j/ C( q. ^% u/ ianswers to our pointed questions.; w* l. T+ f6 K) Y' P# a$ E& I4 q
9 \' s3 A8 _) CThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ P1 J; g$ p; {9 X- i7 E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" B4 O) d7 `% W: R. [out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 d3 |, C( }: P g" l# c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 k( s$ @5 e8 b$ T% k
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 s6 T6 W. R# e9 g; P- smedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ k3 S6 s: S3 o
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ M/ k% D h3 z! B7 x8 Yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# X# N: f/ G1 p& G
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ {4 I" @! D4 f9 B- |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# I7 h) ^) _/ s2 u0 N% A
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ c9 ~* q, |* M% U* z/ m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, k% z: R% h- @) J* G
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 V& ]4 [! D6 u) y! j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 T6 O, K2 W/ t, Y% l$ R2 W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. d: v. M) Q1 T( q& g( L& h
; `5 Q, m3 j/ A. gThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ l) l% Z1 w8 o7 l* v5 Y' }
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ F, X; R t h% S. F* o# G" h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# X" b Y1 M9 {8 J6 E- uhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- t8 [9 k8 L4 D! p1 c
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 U& a( ~& y2 F; U& X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& b. R. b A9 Z Q$ `! Edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 |* T" Y* c: W6 O4 |: ~) sDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" m2 r" Z5 \' \4 C1 Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) ]3 O0 Y! [8 p" i+ A
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 D3 I& Z, _( ~ ?* p6 fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- G2 J$ A( R" }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big) W5 w# f- } }( e* [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# i/ U3 y8 b: x' O3 D; Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% r+ r, Q3 A \9 l4 i% wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
% F, }2 w3 H# ]% F! S( \3 j, xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% j% o1 E3 U% S% v; r! x, L$ ~6 `
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* ^! ?& }% p" s$ [! ?trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" k# }3 c5 Z8 |, y0 ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) |2 n# o m' R- U
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( I/ t% l1 N" p! B( q; F [: X
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ f9 \+ A' |0 X2 gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 q- ^1 f( D G( s, r S
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. B9 s$ X& |& Y& p+ h: bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 z' I$ T8 U- h( I' H; Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# P' W$ \/ i4 J
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# F8 |0 O2 l2 i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ x4 V" y4 m* K8 y5 z; s5 vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
0 G- ]: Q( v0 q# nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 U/ i! e2 t1 s |
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ S2 k: e/ H! G" h) |; n0 S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) e/ e5 I0 `$ B0 m6 w
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
