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
3 M+ x. ]* v& R: X% P0 lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ z. _3 n# {: F% i a; K" d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) L/ i1 D2 F+ e! i# V+ `. t' f"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 v/ A, x8 P. A7 r% s4 e( ~# J0 l
answers to our pointed questions.+ A2 F1 P: g( ?6 Z$ c* J0 {% N
; ]" C" X& Y. w# h k2 v. ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 _' q5 z" N2 k. `' ~4 |9 c- ?& ^7 ?$ c- S45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" P" d& K* d+ A: p Y4 X1 E! `+ eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- o' {% @9 r1 [" W$ M1 \' n
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
6 `) l0 R7 o y$ o& zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( L4 m* F b4 s! w% m% y+ W$ }medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ t' a- O% \$ d1 c2 H: w* g( \
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% \, D. R A% C: k7 J( cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 c6 i$ E- R+ f- f/ g* Eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 D- C9 e; |2 R1 n: q. o4 {/ @6 d" fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" E3 n5 L9 ~2 I8 b5 K3 w
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
Q9 F$ C6 ]5 q& o" yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and r+ C. a* o$ I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& o( E' }- S0 A% L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' p' Q5 t3 X s* _2 gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ L& G! I, E3 d+ b4 m( f
. Y, @2 s+ D! h, V* Y3 p% pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 F/ c6 d X+ K2 S. [+ r" I1 b" B
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; O- o* F* ]/ a) B3 I- E8 E
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: d3 O- T1 S6 D, z+ f+ {8 Thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! |- ?3 X! N* O1 {
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 K- M5 o* s6 Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; g2 C2 n+ E" P* ?* B9 Wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 C) X9 k4 S* z: \. i" x) ?
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, i8 K+ f9 s4 K, P
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 s+ i: G/ K' G4 }2 t7 qcharge the fee defined by the state.* `. K" P- @/ v
7 H7 R5 C$ t, k: B' _8 [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 o7 Y$ H+ N* W0 v; Y& [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* s' G+ J: P+ C
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 e$ R% ^! t; K: h2 c
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% n; b6 y; k" N: Y9 X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
# f8 d7 [7 }# p6 C) I ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 x$ ^% `. C1 L5 A$ W0 x& m
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* E+ B9 r, c' R9 P4 j: Z; @) vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 g2 {4 b2 |) f F$ S5 \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 n' T7 I4 V5 a( N: z5 @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 A8 G, u( N9 f# ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# _; F" g K) o* f. Z3 u# zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% l% ^# h2 F* Y0 n$ t+ b' C/ e
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 z$ l2 j% ^% K+ v Y( S
are spaces.& X$ L% m/ L! a; |! q+ X
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. f) m5 V+ H. P- X4 Q% i( rto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: s6 A/ r$ M" ~) I+ Y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! t. }: N4 J8 e% b- A& u40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 t% ^8 P8 v2 R! l( _& Y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 `* z3 `2 H- @) w1 l# hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) c8 @7 l p4 H/ V# W v4 x8 s# onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 Y0 B J! j/ P( E* N' ] v% S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; p: G3 A8 V" p6 P' Dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., M. u7 K# `5 ~3 R7 e/ b/ g
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
