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
; ?; l4 Y B8 k6 nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( J6 `) v2 I5 q3 W( @# n- k) Ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- f, y( i, Y+ W, {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 @& a9 A/ H$ K: ^% {- O
answers to our pointed questions.! H `+ l- y% x8 Y( e1 h5 j
% s# F* X! n% C/ W0 p4 H3 gThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
) V" F, [2 @9 c' i& }2 Q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
Z! F7 _6 t. Q6 H+ _out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 ^' M1 a* Z5 i( {5 m9 c8 t6 j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, L8 X7 ~$ Y# @; Y' {2 y6 Qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are w- a7 ^6 Q6 a2 u0 x
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 e9 Z _( L$ M: c7 r
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' J6 ]# }& z% vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 k, g- a: g0 S# |8 Fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- A7 j6 K4 \9 o4 H/ }8 mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 T1 M- G* h+ v( X, Uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! I# s( d a" a' h1 a/ |
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
O7 A5 f3 o* F4 ~1 i5 Z4 F( |" w- X) \mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ _5 z7 n& Q8 Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 A% s& _9 v# {& x: j* ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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0 Q4 {6 a& D$ I( P8 ?% ^( bThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 P% U2 R+ w/ k3 a! u4 w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ Y1 Y# M! U T+ O/ ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" f& i% r" X8 mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' P4 I2 I7 C d, [" `& othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! [- g8 K4 S" `& U- h4 |! ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
8 Y6 j- n4 {; n7 H. B1 }+ ]divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
# o8 Q: v" C4 QDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 J+ r, ?; y( b2 Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 m: e9 O5 j: [ o1 ]) j0 N
charge the fee defined by the state.
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2 \; s8 M+ B, e5 |! L2 ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' R& T* e, M/ I6 ^3 Hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( ?- z2 y) |4 ?- J" H' F' wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# P0 j3 v8 C/ Y& p# H$ X- G3 x
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel @ y' h/ `* r( J( x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- y. t" ~0 m* `5 f+ A
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
G- G; T$ U8 w7 X& \schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
z6 y$ L5 w& Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 v- e i. R5 Z- D+ }! k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- e" O! B5 c" M" l/ ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) ?& l8 h4 w3 \
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% s! P6 ^, b0 F# O6 @$ u7 ]* x* j) Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# E8 j8 d7 N. H# P- H
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 Z1 O( S9 x3 f# pare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi& @: G. [) K8 G' T" o2 L* c) ~7 g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; K5 T8 }" S- e# `& \9 a9 Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, f1 g+ u& b( K8 K' t/ w40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- v/ j! ~4 U: {parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% T) i% W7 j% c G0 @5 c
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 ~' V& ^- w% k- n- r$ d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ @/ `& }9 O' ~
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 Y- Z0 J' g% l' |& Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( R6 a2 z/ y$ A. S9 p& g, c We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
