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
, j0 v# i9 O" c4 @standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 l) i2 n( q. m7 eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; |8 D2 A% Q" D+ \; g0 B: N, m% X* S
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; \% K* b1 F/ j3 j; P5 O
answers to our pointed questions.
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1 z1 Q8 U$ m5 j6 W; w. _The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& w/ Q3 H& Q3 {! \7 q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ Y6 h' w" e" z: D+ l2 @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! {7 X+ R+ k0 N4 V3 S3 b# ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. F9 a/ `4 J6 O" |. g, `to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: Y/ h4 R8 R; C7 c, p$ ]$ w
medical schools.' L. M# ^0 @6 N
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ v8 \# z6 w. F4 D! k+ g" R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! B. x7 C& e$ Jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# k \1 v: w' Z$ k* K
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba ^3 M+ v; r; g# p/ y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: E% }: q+ c) e$ n* ^over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" I t( b0 y$ f3 A Z+ r
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( p/ N& [1 f- g& [. i
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, h1 n; s# m$ p1 t" U7 i6 K, y8 @ {shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# T! y$ _0 r4 [- ^% w+ hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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* D2 p* E5 I% N3 a; L( oThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ ~7 `3 K+ r# p* R+ Tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; F" L, K! u8 U; R8 B) s9 j+ Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! t* e6 ]% u. qhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 x: e& Y6 \2 l1 |5 t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! w) e7 @- Y% d9 e Q% T- z1 B- w
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- K, F7 p l4 n! R& V0 v/ q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& b+ X. G' o7 S4 |) E2 _Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! T9 e$ u# F4 ^: Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' |* V8 b0 Q1 \. Z$ |, S" I8 S6 _charge the fee defined by the state.
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! R( s! h7 _$ _* U. f9 N" q) LThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ m% ^" F4 m8 C: d8 j* t: con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. M( x! A* |5 }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
R- G$ V9 E y1 `, [2 `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 d; M5 W% D2 |' `6 r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
8 J* q! f; Z- N: o, X5 ^working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
% x4 V# B+ K# `schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: X4 G( I+ F% W# b9 C
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. h' {) d+ n! ]. Z" q7 Atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 p8 U( Q! v( B
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. h9 l; G+ |: n' V8 U% U3 p% F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 _* W& P4 u8 o4 R9 B: pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 o& R$ d1 V/ S/ x: b! e
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 |2 k5 r& X% F8 v/ Y" A- W* ~
are spaces.9 f+ R1 [* v) Z: T5 r: X& L! d/ W
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: O* e( p5 z- F. n$ V4 y- Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 U! M3 ]$ e: m& g) o \$ |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 D. b# F6 |, Q) B" s40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* c# Y7 B3 @2 e7 ~2 J' O+ ?parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 u: y3 t6 X, p I h5 A/ b6 G! j
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 f- {) K: f) L& n9 D/ \
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) I" d3 _6 _- J9 \6 u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- t. \0 m6 n0 k6 t4 Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 T: S/ F3 M' r8 @1 f' l- |0 a. A We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
