我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 y* Y1 K$ ^ o& Y% K
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went; |' l# }$ o# U7 C, D
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 l2 C0 b1 A- M3 C1 x: z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% H, x: `* Z, i' U: @answers to our pointed questions.) X/ o) @2 M1 d" g
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% }1 T8 D3 T7 u$ Y5 K9 x4 l" b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 B6 Z7 K2 e7 ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 }) B; e- Q) Y* ?) e/ b
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
7 o0 b9 b H; G& [to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 X: w* }: j) {- Y( h: ?5 w! V, Lmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- Q7 Z# `, h& [# C- w3 Q6 ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, g9 u. ^& @; @to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# |+ r% T- U: m8 ]* n! u6 h* passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& }+ w" Y) ~" his from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ s3 h) Z' G2 A ?8 Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
) r3 ~# ^: L8 [' {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
3 M& w; |# Y0 H6 ?3 \% W. |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 |" Z8 P. J' Y+ M- y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, g. n. H c+ u) J, B# W0 T! h0 c/ Nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 E+ {4 l. Y1 S$ y' |- u# T, M& V
0 c# x; [1 B1 j! |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# V3 \: u! P6 K. Xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 h1 ]$ V( }* asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ ]+ B7 s4 _: S& r8 `( `. I* e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" n/ e( v: q8 C% r$ W5 l/ rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- {2 D2 G" a; J' Psitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 E# X6 F4 }$ ]* Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" q: s/ W$ j7 B2 X; r7 @+ bDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& P( [/ }. [6 h: G) `9 r6 Za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" o' ^/ y; u6 {: e
charge the fee defined by the state.( ]4 G2 J$ A. \/ u& Z; f
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 n* A& @- Z3 V Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% P( w$ n! B; z7 j* f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! r2 k9 i7 A: ?) n7 Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 \$ f0 Y" E! x8 r* Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ ]; ?1 p% n9 M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& W9 x4 D7 @" w K: `7 S( g
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: M m, H7 a2 j& y' p' q# D; Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! X9 C3 \/ k9 l* i1 v* e2 O% M1 T, _' _
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
d {5 \# n+ C B1 [5 R* Xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that0 v& j8 a. p) d0 [; u+ a/ l1 ]
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" c# }) T8 T+ b0 N& U% l# i& W X
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 e) l( Q+ s2 o! i
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
L4 n9 t* G% Jare spaces.6 t6 e+ Y& [$ m4 R
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! J8 H h1 T! J" }! M( nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 N: M, u6 N4 W; G0 g" f3 p( i
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' ^* W w8 E# W8 h
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 J# E3 V' N% ~3 C$ z) s: X
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" m* T, Z. m) `. S ~/ Qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 |4 ] f8 q7 s, x4 B
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of4 A% h9 ~& H& ?$ E
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: I$ Q$ |( q! ?
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 H& ^0 o; f# J& p. i( z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
