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
% q2 Z7 y) z5 R% y; Sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 m' [$ P# d! a/ E$ A- v( E4 S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ }' B, m) z0 v) S5 R5 z, O1 s"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: `8 W* O/ C+ u, |) m" Canswers to our pointed questions.
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; p" q, Z$ r2 \1 R& i3 tThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% J d( [( K. M# c6 u# i/ s
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 A- Q/ m4 o: q# q, q8 K# {0 m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- |2 `% E6 k4 c+ B" ^' e
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams4 g$ y' t' {6 C$ R5 H- B. D0 l
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( ]# A# \/ s/ `4 n2 y: e
medical schools.
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8 p& @0 Q: D. M- D* TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" u) w7 k+ X- R+ ?* d, C J( [+ k7 o5 H
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- ~6 j$ \4 O# W+ n; oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' l1 T9 l0 g% D: ]8 w- b8 y- F
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) J$ J) a. {9 ]! K0 ~/ Eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! M* \3 }) L& Uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. w; c7 l4 E) G. `2 _/ m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! Z7 |6 q. ?* {5 \5 b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# v$ u) u7 s1 J" Q8 s. R; K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ V6 t" K1 q/ l' G* z* M
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 O$ |) V) k" b7 C W2 O1 M [( [
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# X* Z' J* D* b- d p8 ] U# f! Gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. K9 k3 U% E6 v) k- k
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 H! v( t. k5 B/ c" `9 khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 Q. n( W4 B6 ^! Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% ?9 _% R6 _( H: W* ~) ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' {% ^$ F. G1 u" E i& ?$ n2 Y; c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 {" g" P, b7 d3 j( X# BDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- s: e$ @( s+ s6 pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ Z2 d( }" S8 ?$ ~6 K" I4 A& d
charge the fee defined by the state.7 o8 b$ q) U3 l( M% l- D, t% W \
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: W5 d2 d: {8 c/ ^
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 v2 M; D% L0 e' C' \$ |
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" o3 q/ j: d; }5 k) jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 b( `+ `' I* D7 C ?6 t
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ a I- ~4 x1 a/ @$ w5 P) u* R6 B
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% M1 i' X# ], I' I: {3 S* ?1 V
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ a: B7 F; E" x/ syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 U, P3 I9 O9 u- G }trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ d/ G% D E/ c! {' c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ ^7 p3 n+ _& E2 C @! H8 P
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 T2 @9 Q; q, \* a# _8 b6 V' ?to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" i! B2 g% j& G- K& Mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 L9 W* W- A1 v* _! e: T
are spaces.
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, _0 I$ {! S0 d0 UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi% e" L/ b3 ]/ u6 G; k, @- m
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, d! u8 C( A" p( f2 ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' Y+ \* X8 I" N+ `6 H4 h* i/ v40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. ?; H$ J( v zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 x1 E- ^' y! V6 S
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 R. s# l" [7 D9 a* X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 F) _7 {3 S( V* P
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 V& _$ _5 u. T; k O Yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 x0 x% V0 r) {9 ^ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
