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 s6 v+ p+ d; l% U3 q: Rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' w% i- K7 j! L n/ R* k; ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: Q- l8 a& g' b9 ~. ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, i! U" J1 c/ I x0 Z$ [' K
answers to our pointed questions.' d7 Q" _6 k+ ^: E- y( h% R
# ^; B# m! u7 D. D- d0 q. nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: J6 }% t* z$ l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) g6 V' x. f0 |% ?
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 N. |8 p! K) G O+ Y; `free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; j2 ?5 u& j( T8 k0 _! P! }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are `; ?1 f) U" t
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 g8 @; V+ p P9 egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 G5 s b& n" J* h lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 V% p4 ]0 i; K) f1 y' y9 Nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# {" G: t* V, D9 qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to P+ C' E0 [: }4 _
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! s! ]- N X; W( Q- z# r
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 ?9 Q3 l3 L8 X. u4 N; F$ ^' Q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 W! E" l4 O* Z& ]) ~3 e( \* z$ D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some" C: s! X. b1 _; ^* P6 @1 f5 Q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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; {& N- W9 n; X0 F1 a2 IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# a% b3 k+ T6 [/ G6 l* S- Q2 S% zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# I/ [! r! T$ b& Z, b( ?* jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 ]' L* F. ^6 f/ h* y+ E/ m# f1 z# nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 M1 n( Q9 q* A+ t' k5 o# a- V
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% P- W/ V) R% N( m
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 L. P6 G3 ^) R n9 `: \divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ F0 |1 M4 q" ]
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ f( d! o6 W" `) J5 d
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* k2 K0 X+ m' R \- l
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' {) ] A6 v- w# a7 r jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, a$ h4 Z7 }0 s, P) I$ j/ v+ gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& p' D0 l6 g* G; ~% J, G$ Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) c ^3 u A5 c F% Hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! ^! j5 z( q' `6 G# Xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. i7 u( R. H& r2 q9 n+ X/ X
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 V( {# M8 \4 O% @) m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* z) q8 r6 p! U/ g. u! l, K- m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" t! L5 X5 e9 I' J/ M& X0 ]& Z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" B8 w; L& a" D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 A, x; M% Z7 X5 C" H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) J5 }$ _ Z4 l7 K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
, N4 [/ O* e: Xare spaces.3 r' J% M8 g) D* T
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. W) ] }! C& T/ x* L1 o ^$ W
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& ~; T5 a% H2 k1 N# [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 g7 u! Z; v, R A* x! c; |0 o/ E( V Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( Y; l/ P& K3 D3 ^+ A) N
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
p$ a( x/ o. `0 |6 s( ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. q& _8 o0 f: R0 O- g- snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 @5 P8 b7 l4 rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ v% J8 k/ |" Q# K
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! h9 Q0 {5 B) H- f" b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
