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
6 s) A- O5 n& j5 @& wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 l+ V! ?' R6 H. O7 K
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' }% a0 |- B: M"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 D3 ] K9 n5 [" Ranswers to our pointed questions.3 |& l% a$ E3 E8 B+ l
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ F4 A6 g% B9 [" o$ A& v' r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ n* d5 A D! }+ jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is' k6 b5 }& ~, f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 P8 f' f, n) J1 f' C" E# X# r& Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. u3 t; I& Z! n! L$ X# Tmedical schools.- }$ D' P+ r( o) j5 p) p' A
3 ]9 c& r8 ]* I* b$ zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 W0 `3 n( |4 [, M8 m" @3 `. b$ w% M/ ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 w5 l9 w8 i" |4 H- P, l2 b
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' C1 b5 R7 h3 P( q& M1 g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; G$ t x( p. A1 k" ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. u# y q' o2 T- ^* m' P0 n: C% z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" L/ l5 C3 {* z" ^& a6 j9 f) T$ Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and _) H- J3 E* O; M' u: a3 P1 ^; r, Q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" H7 R a1 q: g+ }2 S
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ R+ C& J& s7 y6 q8 w Psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 c- {7 M! M2 t* u# i
' r9 f' k8 k7 [' d0 TThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 F! `" t# P# B- T* O0 g8 D! Gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& ]3 n( V0 f, {% d& e2 f% rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, {7 ^9 _7 h4 o4 B& l4 i- L" I' o
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 ^! E# Y) k: A- W, t/ d$ B, D( C% ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 c5 |; I% d3 }8 U8 M, h) R/ tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) T$ t1 \3 D- l3 `6 q. ddivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* q8 Q: B0 P- PDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; W2 s' ?$ `3 [( J0 p0 J
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 {8 l. j: J) O; X
charge the fee defined by the state.
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' D, ]0 D2 J- fThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 G6 k$ ^2 J+ X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ Y+ e3 V1 N) L. ?) B( K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' S2 B4 a; {* N' y# U8 |truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 I- m% X+ L3 q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 g r$ F9 E- M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' y2 G0 d( j- Mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, c% `7 Z0 \- U4 e! d6 \) z4 hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 ]/ `6 W9 M4 A0 Y2 F' C
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: ]1 [9 ~3 m% M9 p' m
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 b6 K# t6 h1 z, ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: k9 Q; ? c; M& |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 k: M! F) B6 F0 d. i, b5 U3 b( kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- W, c% t1 D/ ?( G/ A/ N) H* Zare spaces.: ?8 r! v' _3 r* l6 i7 j
4 k6 ^& }1 O* e7 yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ ?( i6 J7 Z+ c' Q8 ]3 F9 Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: X/ `; ~- l) t5 [$ V6 k4 Xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! c2 d2 l+ o; [$ N; j! ~, P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 M: B8 B7 t( Yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* y; F+ R$ U2 X, s4 f$ \# z; qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) q/ Q; M8 s) Q1 Y/ b
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ [1 ^+ j* Q$ L( \+ _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 E; k# L% c0 o6 k( ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) Y& I* i9 U9 m8 w3 k
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
