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: c/ O7 b; ^8 j0 b" S3 _' x t3 J0 \/ Q$ }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) a2 A8 w# u+ G. d7 B
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 l* o7 ]1 E! D/ |
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ n: K T& E; q; h
answers to our pointed questions.& S8 G5 [0 U0 z8 V @9 q5 q: A7 `- c
% F2 K7 Y- J, BThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 U/ M- \& B0 o' A3 ~
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 b% j4 n6 ?7 V9 j2 k5 O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ V8 w7 ^* [$ r8 o" n3 zfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% W9 P) V7 |+ m; z9 i# W4 a# s6 R5 }
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
H2 u5 u! U3 x0 W. omedical schools.
& h# l4 y7 K6 J: R- d
: r9 D" {4 F" W2 ^# f. bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 T5 ]0 N6 U5 S# c7 qgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* U2 b+ V9 q3 S
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% p' d7 O& K! _! T4 eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 D: j* z) W- \! a( e' N% D2 \
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) }6 d4 ]* r9 `- t" y1 T# r
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& @. F6 t) a% K6 {+ o8 zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
3 I6 |! v1 x k% ^6 ~3 Kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& R( c0 K9 h; A% M( Z; x( }
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" ?1 R' j, s+ l5 O/ C( \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
$ @# C+ t @/ l }: u! r' h4 U( h& i
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& T) l# V) A! W, X
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ @% \( m6 x; e/ R) A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
+ B2 ^0 v. M+ f2 Dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 Q. \. D# V( ?thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 h7 s1 |- \% E' l* s* Hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! L n# G# O; l7 t( \7 Q# X6 N3 n& g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, o+ G+ b% f- fDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- p7 ?$ M2 }5 h+ a5 ^( \% t( X1 k
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 R7 {# o# @) q9 W8 Y2 k
charge the fee defined by the state.4 p k9 ]4 ?$ n z
6 o6 A7 i1 Z- r7 a% }! N9 }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, g- k k% S8 }- p8 Kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 k- L! O$ M: d r: s8 Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 H2 c4 `$ {4 Z9 `
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 W2 }* f- A3 i7 V8 d* e5 f) ? W+ Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( u* h& _0 T- ?0 V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ |* P D+ S; h) o- o2 rschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; Z# L2 u1 G# F: cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& b' z& u) s5 O2 H+ y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 P" e: z6 R7 _! k+ ^, }/ J
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( V$ o/ q6 I8 w3 X+ y% J. f
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- p* y5 d$ L1 L: y& ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" e _1 ]9 Y" W ^, i7 ^5 Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 Q! Z/ }6 ~ ]8 J7 K% ^7 E) h6 T
are spaces./ p4 |: W" s7 T' T
2 a+ q, Y6 H% d8 xThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ n' K( y$ c8 gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 D& w4 M# d! e$ |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* p/ B- M* ^' _3 y& [0 A8 ~# p40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
( N5 Z9 k1 R/ o' A; o# P& Q& G* Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 k; j/ y4 R) `; Q8 d8 lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 ^, Q' G, ?# {: o+ B0 C1 Enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ l. Z/ |- b! Q8 w
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: ^( E5 f* K2 N! {# ~5 E
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 d( O& f7 s$ h1 _3 N+ C9 i. g
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
