我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 O( G- S H1 }9 X
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 ]! J/ R2 B/ j% v# Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( E4 x1 x C( X4 _( ]' L; X$ y/ j
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ ]- s1 u( Q2 v- E' }" d6 W/ N
answers to our pointed questions. N8 L2 W+ F9 {9 t4 h% r
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, p( `, `9 `7 v; x- N( ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ \8 W8 t& ~, n1 [' |* U" k, ]( z$ R
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( z7 z4 T4 [5 Q: B9 h0 z6 B. [. p
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 @( E5 O1 `1 r- Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" E N+ J9 Y; imedical schools.; x f7 c1 r1 p0 o: F$ `, d
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 x3 R! Q2 F0 q) V0 t m+ H4 ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& p* |2 v6 D$ j3 Y9 e. Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ u& q$ r: a. L1 yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# M8 l$ M' v$ }; y! S a5 |# wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" j% U: t# Q4 _/ A& kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 y# K6 j* |8 I3 xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, c3 B9 N' d1 G# B/ y* V7 L" A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 B; c! F' g* m. x. @/ e9 Vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; C2 t8 f& @+ P. @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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4 S: z- O/ G/ T gThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 y! T+ ^/ d. k. r" K& S! Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 i- L- M2 X) d& ?0 e- [- g" P. tsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 g& {' r2 [0 ^/ H. E$ W, I& N5 fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ f( Y( y8 w7 Y! l) tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 X3 \9 Q* u8 `! I" ?5 c& Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 ~, V6 m7 v+ ?: u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! o5 z* _8 r' m9 k1 i$ N/ F9 s+ UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
' R* ]1 ?8 T4 H* ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" N. i0 R( J7 o: _- `
charge the fee defined by the state." ]# I1 q6 z3 @
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- f, d) k, Q/ h# t
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) ~" N& ?/ ]. b& K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; ]7 l" R( ]. E' t+ |8 Q. dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; k: n( @+ R) ?( u+ V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% @& t9 ~& o9 z, n" A
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 G: K, j; _; M' r. y6 ]0 b7 dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ C8 N Q6 u) ?8 t1 y# d' Y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 H6 Y' s6 V& n( J% a9 V, Mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; Q' c) z' ~- K$ r/ P9 J
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; w6 J" t( y, n9 W t, }7 a: _
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want ?" A: g3 Z7 Y6 J" L; l0 x$ [
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* X- Z- i4 a6 d( W4 xbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 Z `5 b S/ ?
are spaces.
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4 o, M. ~% g$ ]5 wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 `* `8 H' F* M2 o' E; V$ zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
* F: G5 t9 S5 pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) C+ V$ w& D- U% o+ [5 ]# d
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; d! C9 n1 h6 Y4 K8 n( Y7 Jparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ D9 W. j+ E0 P% J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( d% |2 Q- |# Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ n' D$ r, m. y' X; [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 S" Y) Y5 H* [0 cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' G7 s0 k3 f8 l
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
