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
* U" s# V1 H" G: K, @: O' T8 f5 I" \standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: J0 _9 N( A* U4 m* `% e! K- h7 y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 p) @1 A9 T! N! P# K }
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! w' y0 O/ Y! H5 s
answers to our pointed questions.
7 A |+ g8 f; y: C4 i
, R3 G, H0 R5 H- q N$ x% wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& }& a2 x3 I& \. o( i8 ^. X
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 w0 F( ]* F H: ?0 D$ H3 rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 f( ?$ G- ]( s: {
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. w7 m6 K/ V+ T7 _6 m3 B% b* M
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ o. w; w4 S" ?medical schools.: N! C/ v! H% L
# ?- ]' W) Q8 G3 E# t5 p7 N# X
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. B! M! |( Y( W0 z7 O' ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% P5 B, Z8 _7 h! z B
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 o) P4 o- }' G8 f% g( R, I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' S8 `$ V+ d0 f. b4 _, X9 S
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 L/ h) c# C0 ]$ I" \$ [7 A
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* Y5 r2 D( r+ n/ lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ l3 W6 T4 j4 O$ i9 U' e- lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk$ U3 u1 d7 o5 B* }, y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: u5 z# c9 E5 s, j4 b k. I' ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.5 ~0 [5 Z3 b+ c( D- F
' b- d) z3 n5 \; k3 T- a; \+ H
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! n0 u! e: ]5 \, ~$ I9 b( F+ Jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. J" U8 v% p$ g8 a' a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& w3 e. f8 G/ h* E6 Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 e! z2 o; O. q2 U- Uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
X* M0 E; C/ @1 o8 O( D; fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- x* h K# x+ Z0 edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; d$ T( C' b% G3 R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When3 v$ K: A, x6 T4 g" Q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) p/ ^- }8 d5 A5 U
charge the fee defined by the state.
1 n( x O4 y5 f( M1 o
# O7 J, \! V2 D, rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ Q0 S( N5 \0 K t
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
2 M+ I1 Z* S7 d3 ?9 Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) T9 p% I/ K8 y2 o4 Struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 S/ s }- A8 I) Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
\6 n% `% r5 h. @* t9 ?working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 L) W; F% z9 a, {$ C3 eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" t# T! N( m! B) {; k7 X+ H& g+ pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. d0 [- h3 t' O6 }trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' ~. j, _: x' @ r% d
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 _ }% ], @9 D; Q5 \- b& U* g! F% B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# s$ {! Q( x) ], F) i9 yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or" j& r8 z5 S; Z1 p4 F2 P
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( ]1 ?9 Q2 J" I; xare spaces.
5 v3 g" s, \3 |* K4 |+ E+ Y. d" j/ N- f/ u+ T
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 r1 e7 _- _: v3 y( ^0 i Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ q) C0 n$ X. X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& q- `) a+ E7 |! s$ d# Z; z6 q9 V
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! p9 C, k5 P, {4 v y0 D# r: ^parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. S# L q X2 h, n4 |' l5 i
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 w( |" n2 b3 A* A* J: u
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of i2 @ o4 L1 J. T6 o) d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
4 n" w& i2 N% nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! E# m( B/ x/ e# P5 W+ E9 T
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
