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
0 T, p p7 Q' F/ V- Ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 O+ d% k7 t8 s5 q6 k* M9 @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- p: a0 J+ N& b9 n6 v"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% R8 O/ B$ w0 K6 c [5 H% f' [
answers to our pointed questions.1 t$ o! Y; i# U C& w+ J( c6 v
$ Y( d* b9 U* n$ |8 q2 f* ZThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; u+ {- M# R/ p2 H' X" ^2 k% {9 ]7 k
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 S. S ]; N! s; b% k$ Hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
- s. z3 A' I4 L% [% |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! \3 x7 i7 D; J+ Q, T
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 b( ^0 k, j0 ?7 p2 d) i
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the! E! K T& |* `2 b6 Y3 [/ q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 |4 V5 v' c' r5 d1 l8 ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 y4 Y8 m3 G/ ~5 L3 s2 T1 h2 A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) l q# N* R) p" H' l" l
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to w: M. q) O/ p
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 \. k [$ Q6 O7 S* D. ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 O* @8 H+ d' W+ F+ }9 S, Q" x% }mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( _' S+ ?5 B1 ?6 {/ W
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 I% m3 ~1 t- R0 d% ^
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 A2 I9 H0 G/ h! T% K
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 K4 [0 x: c( _8 b
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) s1 R; \. A5 U, s1 R. G
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 f: d2 k6 C! F3 @( j1 y1 U2 D$ Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# w: J( M7 |: L! b7 V2 `2 esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 g! I( U, W# l( ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( J: F+ D. G% ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& T/ x/ g _2 _# Y8 L$ ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 K- q3 @' ^8 r4 I" v1 scharge the fee defined by the state.+ y$ _# c# N( e
3 W/ d, B; z7 [% `* Z/ ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, p/ p, R8 j' o- I6 lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 F4 C2 U% t9 y% W) _9 ]* {8 s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: v7 |5 u- L- h9 a! B8 B3 t
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. M% _+ \& Y9 Q# d( i# r5 h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 W& O/ ?& x$ x& lworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 M5 c) N4 N1 ]# ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 m! n8 E9 k: ?. ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 H' p! u. a- Y' x$ ~% }
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: X- c; O6 f: h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 s2 @4 O1 B N& r2 w- I \# I) y( Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want E8 A+ @, `5 x% R h( e5 r9 d
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% a- \. U/ g0 x$ @6 V6 q3 ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 \# n/ y. o- X- C6 r
are spaces.* [- `3 B6 E* P% _- O+ F
7 y. B- |. h5 H7 c- QThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 f* _+ U+ P. ]" w/ w$ Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% ?" |( |: `& c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 }& x) C: v* X6 A40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# b0 U: g- Q4 @2 y: Sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" @! Q1 | @, d) M# Tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 W' {9 E& z; Q1 @nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 t- h c2 s. b1 m
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 Q2 j, }9 {$ T9 n% k5 Q5 G! D# Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, |% _/ E8 [% {9 b6 L: f We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
