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
$ _( z) p/ K9 M7 Q6 A/ J+ B9 }4 O9 ?standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 `; q: v9 g( M9 T, j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* g' x# J6 k6 t, n. w# Q0 z c! }# Z) Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) @, d+ k u- Z" d# E7 l, q) ?answers to our pointed questions.% f; Q3 f6 G0 v8 H, m
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: `6 ^* \. u/ S45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 a8 f& t, J: G, E5 s* |out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 o* ]4 h" \+ ?7 O; C2 x. B
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- M0 t( ]4 V( O1 D9 b9 z0 P
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: d* V% p- k+ O. U5 |7 X! p
medical schools.) Q+ }# h9 W8 I$ s9 m1 x- v- Z
1 a0 Z2 d6 o8 F7 jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 S0 e6 p/ N- Y% v0 N3 J- G* B% fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- J! N- q( {/ D* c" {4 S! R: Xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' I# e+ u3 Y) h; }4 X0 ^& hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( q# A+ v; D; X8 Y2 U$ v+ nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) \% ~: ]2 x+ v- c) H2 Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 K1 M0 {! P: C. z' ~7 C
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ p: V/ f$ m# K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ y8 h/ t6 P; |% A8 W' @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- N( G9 Y. z' I' W y; o' \" i- ~sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 h/ W9 |! M9 W# P
9 R3 [0 W2 t/ T6 y% s+ GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; t n' A2 B+ r& ~! v
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- z0 {* {# y, Q! B9 Q7 X
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 M$ ~* o4 N% r; \! R
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 \! o" w. D4 J( }. V* q0 R* hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- o$ e9 [. @) q# R
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 ?# B+ l+ ~! c K$ m7 e+ Idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 l0 Q& |5 p7 HDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% K' h! |, \- v; Y- K4 [2 _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ z) ]9 r4 O# G3 Q7 Ucharge the fee defined by the state.- |* L" O4 M( r4 s3 c* T+ @
; _, P: A8 ~5 T* S8 S$ _3 S0 VThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. e6 Z _- ?% oon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 ?/ n- h0 |1 {4 a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: N6 P' T8 z* P; `# [' l& |$ Ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
; O+ q ^5 `$ |" p0 k" k/ {/ {. ~seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* b Q2 W+ s; _; W+ ]0 }working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: D7 G* J! O2 s( U* W4 s1 Q$ nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. n- [, _$ f' Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ h5 T& i" p% f7 G$ [) }& ?; k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& J0 o4 r8 x2 Z+ h* F" Shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; q x S! M- f) o8 r) ?
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want q3 p# z) E$ i# I/ u C
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# I& @" p7 H% j0 Q0 E1 v
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. e. ~, F) B. z/ N2 b8 W% ~8 qare spaces.+ I: n/ V/ h8 [& h! }8 d1 B. c
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 r/ V% ?2 G5 Z0 b* oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- I1 |0 C; E9 i2 U8 H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 ~+ K# Y( M- H+ P5 u6 f40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 ~0 B6 Q1 ~0 w, P1 z7 Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 Y- _3 h6 I& G# [2 b* t
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 i4 L' v9 ]! b" V* R9 a/ L
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 `3 R$ k- l/ F# B2 W5 B, c
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- T1 H$ q' f: O* i2 W5 h! D! s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 G: M3 F& k6 u0 P, [ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
