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! i M: W& }, X9 `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
w8 X1 C6 p* x( Ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 s" G: p6 J2 t2 i+ U2 y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 B& ?& w3 D5 s$ g* _
answers to our pointed questions.( F4 E5 A+ S% O
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ v, v; H3 [8 ]+ M6 R3 V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' |6 S( S: K0 U4 Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! f' H! |" B/ K4 ]1 t# gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 x/ C$ V, L$ V8 a! S6 s1 O" ], p* y/ g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' v7 r: G! x+ @0 Imedical schools.) D1 c: e- t0 K
x( z. [4 s1 w4 U; z( rEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 q% G T9 q5 t
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' w5 n' T' Y1 k! k" h7 zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% q# A/ x- @7 h! @% e( y D
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 t1 {/ x' h& B3 Zis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 p0 g: R+ g7 `# J6 u0 k+ P
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! |' P! O4 T0 \% t. q7 ^. i3 zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 j8 U% s+ ?) x% C+ |
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 K) j4 w! f8 S- {+ Y$ gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some# P' H, n l' K. E; o
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ ] I# U3 o2 v' s
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. X: v3 w3 m+ [+ ~supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
; v" ?* v, a, H+ d0 Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# z# |. {/ v" X! H, r" v; E
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 m: s4 q. a; t N" b# m; Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 B% r' E: C% H! ^" I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 X/ R4 B5 P+ \! L0 q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 W5 `( g. E# Z7 M# Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( r+ S$ p, X; M, ^$ j
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( d! z* x3 T2 }4 O9 Z; Ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ H/ _# {7 d' ~+ V* J# C
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 B/ k9 g0 v5 @8 h* }
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- H: ?, g& c, D! o4 k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ E; o- I3 y# t, [3 S) n& w _1 E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 |/ n, c: p! C/ R8 z0 ~
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* ?# l* i" x2 E3 Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ ]9 ]. J8 V! S/ L- utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! ]9 w' s6 `' _2 d9 m: N- F4 l% Xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. z( d4 z& q6 ?& l: _5 w" P' Vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: d- i. ^4 D( G6 Y1 Z1 C
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 L( a& O/ k, {9 zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' B$ H' ^9 I# c/ nare spaces.5 ^% D! W! L6 Z& l9 p
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 A/ U8 C% F1 Z+ C2 k* g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. L( s8 f) z. r0 o1 Pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 O( |/ `! O. `2 v# {2 {" ~40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; w& f+ A/ @: H1 T5 u; nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. w- z8 A" l3 k) U8 D; ?+ `- Ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" G: F; C8 G' Z- e( h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 A: k1 D6 ?4 U# M7 S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: f: o7 W/ S( t. q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; ~ Z3 E( d1 H0 u" o7 U
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
