我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 E- }3 @) R h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 F) }" `! H/ F* ^% v8 f! t4 O3 k& zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* Q2 h0 F5 l" y& n
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 `9 ^) I& N4 `. D7 h5 [. c& y9 w
answers to our pointed questions.2 E6 F2 m+ I* X) ?! s4 R" d% S
$ |: |& y9 }1 `7 W; j5 wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' f# z$ o, V# n6 s/ X* j9 `( U45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 @4 g b" @+ o9 ~9 k& oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( w) ?$ N8 G& i# }* y& t' [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% L" p* c- K; Y; e, V( t% \to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" p- _& v8 W: ]+ j; x3 {3 _; e
medical schools./ B/ v; T5 S) S5 l* a( G; P9 k
# ^* s( J6 Z2 zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 R; j* C+ n0 T1 j! bgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 x! g! b0 p$ N2 E3 \: sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& W7 j" F$ C2 f$ p+ @. B* g" J- aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% q$ Z" v/ H% _, cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ w: o! s+ A) F" ~$ d5 L
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 u$ F% I" m* V0 ?1 ?0 H4 k( q; Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" X( Y6 N1 J# z% R2 ?4 [mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
# K7 W$ Q& z- d% cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 l7 ^8 u4 `2 G( _3 M
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: W. b2 O" J5 j3 I! p9 T" ?( }% Aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ u# v1 s" R! E: W9 \* Usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 r# h6 t1 S% {- u9 chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% P% |. ~7 M7 D, Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! v% F( I5 J- Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, U7 `7 \+ s+ w6 x' o2 Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) L7 y0 d* |% j3 h6 A0 Q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When' o, `# r4 p- D5 S8 U
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" G/ g# s- ?8 o: a7 I! E7 K% E ~
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ i8 l8 D2 b. c. ]0 Y I% Z0 ~on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 p4 w3 n& \$ {: C
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. h% E+ ]/ K5 e6 u8 Q: A! [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: |9 D& _: f8 D1 a; |8 @seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! |$ ~7 D. J- _) ?7 V, B' x) _' [working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: N) m* n7 G5 g2 l0 c/ x* }- _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 k- f# W) s( Y! \: D9 l
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 h+ {7 _; I4 m2 k" e) J
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 P$ |1 b2 V1 Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, Q A) v+ l l9 \2 |% |
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% Y4 {6 y- Y% _* N+ nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 O$ l8 f9 q5 `. H, k* p; T
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# K# `9 p" Q% Y7 x# }9 D5 b: x
are spaces., s! P) i- |$ u" C# u: B, _
' n1 s- V' ~1 L7 ^' {There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
4 H1 [- Y+ Q4 F* o0 [. Y1 `/ Wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 a- v# ?8 Q# e* a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, T3 z% f, x E4 ~40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" K: }- D9 X. Z2 rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 m4 m5 J: O$ t' V1 qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 V* I( K4 G) e0 C( N) M" \9 r \
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( B- S) R" x. g! S" a
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- n& d0 Q1 A! r# C( x7 h$ j
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. C# J1 I) f: p3 P& b) y We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
