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
5 d% A* F E2 o, K8 Hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: A$ H: q3 ~7 }/ ~1 q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 P! Y# ]" Q/ @: [* ]' ~: W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 T* j1 \( R7 `
answers to our pointed questions.6 k$ B+ w. _' w K& t6 l
; B- C% e- h2 E$ q+ T: r$ {; FThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ b$ a! c5 \! A/ ?
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 `( n1 Y2 ^6 ~' p8 C6 @& }out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ ]0 b$ I: a8 k) `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! S, c2 o% C$ S- O K Y7 m1 ?to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 f/ g* s/ {! c: a2 k- `medical schools.
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$ o0 ~, }3 Q- A: B) ?% B! cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ D, g4 S6 ?/ ]8 y) J& w
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ _* q) K# V1 A6 h( P! \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! g9 R% r4 H, o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 k6 [+ @* `1 g1 S
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 X* D" k, O4 k; O0 V/ \; x, h7 X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 I$ `& H& z1 c( l% U0 H: `& [seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 k+ {5 A& G( ]# {; N* p. Xmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ |2 O' f" \& L2 Y& s: c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ U, v5 m( K5 {; jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 X9 }) z9 u# e" F8 ]; \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 ^# A6 G+ a, N% Bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. \2 O M- X4 `! o! R6 Ehave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( i. }1 Y9 o7 E- K
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 e; J( ]/ J1 I/ l
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ q/ b- H( r* H
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: ]% j- p- Y. \6 d8 y9 GDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 P! k- g/ v! n+ \0 Y! }2 x) Ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: n/ l' l! _8 g9 x4 o, bcharge the fee defined by the state.7 L7 u; [" F( P( V8 @1 J s
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, F2 j+ D( M" c& I! kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ o+ k, ~( ]3 W" j4 ]) Pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
k) T" `1 Z9 {( y: [) ~$ V8 Htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ G# ?3 \1 ^- D$ J. Eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 i* I, D- Y6 e L- q- K
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" l, [ K) @7 c m' L/ |4 e, zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 x: A3 w$ _( q- w% A& t4 {1 byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% ~- A1 A9 y' G y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
4 S+ A5 A5 Y% N! O# Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, M+ C4 O _/ v9 W6 u/ K( I1 K+ ?people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% U# p! }+ P+ U/ X5 R
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' l; q( f. Q7 Y8 `3 m2 X# ?buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 D8 i; s/ O: |( F! {$ M' Rare spaces./ w- Z/ ^2 J/ j
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' v) V' o# g' `/ P
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% J7 L2 h( I% z3 B: z! v S
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" p* k- a% t' P$ B
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' X2 Q" g# g4 F$ Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 }+ O, {, K0 v1 o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 a; _% U ?# U7 j5 fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 s1 L5 r1 _2 _4 I/ p! N
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 G' |1 F/ _- f8 ~1 K. V$ _9 mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 ^, j0 E8 e% F9 U2 q We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
