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/ ]" @3 H- Vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' V$ o" F( z$ f7 S- F$ x' j* ~
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 ]/ [: j$ i1 |' {
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ v+ c: A4 Y4 G& l2 d- |: m O6 o+ L. Q
answers to our pointed questions.
4 |4 \- T/ R5 x- B' E- i9 t8 \% t5 s+ l+ A
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# c3 O, `$ w+ c% u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. b1 o0 {7 [1 k* _& V7 t' ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 j' n7 m2 C( K N
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ L$ [3 |0 r7 E- n% P! j
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 ]+ O. [9 z3 k, i5 }8 Q3 s" r
medical schools.
, F8 Z" w+ I; I" @# a7 O
0 i5 F0 N2 ?7 r6 h( ^8 M7 }Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 p. L# r4 X* R% C2 j; qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 o& W+ ~6 C. S- e4 S: Z# q% t5 pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. B! R; W+ F d) |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba4 |2 v/ t. D% O% V* R: x. X* d1 r
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 a9 k& M. B$ s* O, dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ e8 o1 }" F5 v3 O4 V" Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 }- j, S% T3 w6 t9 {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* Q; G; p) o! H4 d3 n1 {
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 r! w& n& t( l4 Jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
8 C8 i. v; } P1 i( O- A
! o+ l, i2 ]; w5 r' R7 z) F8 ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ F# X' m3 u3 u( f; ]! m4 z7 Dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- W( Z' w8 b. E1 `, i, Q& A" T+ D' j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people W2 y1 z8 z: j* c p! Y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) t5 e3 i8 g( G
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 n/ F1 B% Y7 \# a, @& x2 \sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ u, { C# E% ?2 Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ u! v' Z+ I2 l! f3 y6 JDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, B, A, `0 d, l1 Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, `8 V8 H8 r8 Z/ \ d, x2 A
charge the fee defined by the state.+ U0 U, E' a( G
4 J) p* i: a4 c& j- a. w0 b- ~6 K1 EThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 s0 g8 R9 m% L9 e/ d
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 B9 f* ^4 D$ Dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( I% _3 G- M/ |7 P; f5 ^ m5 Qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" \/ c5 c$ F- [0 |" z& Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" G& f4 K' X. s4 \8 r) T6 N
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 A9 I) h; i$ t, O2 y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- Y6 c2 v+ [, j; O8 ]1 `you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 H) Q2 [6 Z4 Z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* o2 L G: N: \8 [hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# Q# ]' C% B6 }' h# E+ E7 a6 L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" l8 d0 } e- J B3 d F: rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: `. H; L, z& E* G* L% n* Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* Z8 {/ @1 P1 kare spaces. E2 |& k) j: n; [: d4 r6 P5 a, o6 a
5 V" K. x& {* L i3 j2 A$ GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 A/ @1 q( L8 S6 Y" dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, Q2 y0 S2 D- h
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 K/ p5 M) g8 s# p0 ]. O/ r0 A+ Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different8 g; u$ T1 I' }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- V8 o9 H5 k. K$ E; G3 w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# |8 A8 @* x$ U) Z5 h. w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 `, M( P! \* T5 v2 Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, Y( L0 ]: }4 i( Y; Q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: R) x* }' U3 G. S7 m6 ]
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
