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
& J3 I5 O2 h" E+ z6 J, p7 ]standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& d3 n+ F9 ^& |on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 h$ \: Z; G+ c% d! M/ }# `+ h& B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( k, M/ ~' Q9 Lanswers to our pointed questions., Z/ L- s; ^9 ^2 ~& f( r
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 d" _2 r4 n) A A' y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 w6 H9 W0 N! \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; R$ Y" E% V. {: S1 Q% R6 Q4 `free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 v$ G' _) F8 b# ~0 V# tto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' M9 `' X, y( x. [
medical schools.# A4 e) _8 E: l/ u) y; a& r' R3 ~
4 q8 Z6 x. w* N3 l. |+ l) `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 z4 W* F+ f) W4 B1 z* S# r5 D; P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 ?% ~* C+ K, M# a: Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% a4 H2 o& H# j8 b: G
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. a M! }* |, w e: ]) nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) P% t4 {5 }2 }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 B0 j1 P0 w) N$ L/ Z0 J* c' {8 x
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. y/ m* J0 P) u: d1 E5 S9 hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& D2 U$ @' ^, q2 e! Dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some) u3 c7 n) n$ A" _. t* W1 e
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. s# }7 q1 a# t: W: y; N+ S
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" h6 U( K2 X% r. B5 h7 U3 d6 ^private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; J; `7 q' S ]9 ^* t+ M6 e6 ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 `: \) w1 S4 m% [0 @have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 A. \6 ]5 a( }( N6 Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& W5 r+ F: c" e6 k% o2 j, r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ F# U1 x3 u$ q4 i" Y/ Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( d2 d0 g6 w, L: O
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% }0 `# k2 g' r, k) w; e' ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, H2 s8 }8 V$ ~& r8 [charge the fee defined by the state.
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" j# h+ f8 U2 _3 m8 d6 s0 D$ BThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ }! D; ]* @& i2 W' n$ l" ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* K4 x0 f0 o6 r7 K9 \* R% D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& h$ D- `9 r; ?0 u# J* v0 q% D" Y n
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) ^ |2 `: j9 J8 I; `0 Qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: o1 s5 F3 H/ ^& D5 j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 i5 W2 z2 R D' @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- _6 f# C' G6 c
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 N, r* [$ }( M9 ]. Utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 b7 Z i4 b6 W3 U3 N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 _- _) c& O( Y4 @- M* D% _8 x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, t; @8 e C7 @4 nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# O; e4 E6 U! \+ ]" Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! p2 E8 |4 g' {( yare spaces. Y7 ]) i8 a* w
& C: W6 B1 _: a8 L, mThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
4 i, ? v/ n4 A/ o* v( Gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ C" p0 ~$ L, G3 Zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ l: q' r$ A& X6 e8 t+ O) S
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 t9 j1 i E/ l
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 L) i9 Z8 X" R% Y" ~: N8 [best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& g6 z: A, c5 j; }7 c3 Q: |* O* ?nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' A$ R7 [/ X3 n% _7 ]car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* w6 J( _) l7 X+ I" L" l
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 P2 B, a/ o3 ?1 e: Y; W
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
