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
/ E" |9 W) @% S2 Qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 l1 e, @( o3 m; Z. Lon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ ~* \; S* s. X
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 f4 i3 B% |2 {0 h& ]
answers to our pointed questions.( X' x$ r" n; g. d5 F9 R
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, o/ y' a0 G$ ?$ G
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) R9 O! f& ^" e( r+ y3 g$ _out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" O" B7 P1 _9 E0 c/ K' rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 ?; L# M0 e5 u+ z8 l+ ^0 W, \to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 u- a6 v5 N5 x/ Jmedical schools.8 s1 Z, X7 F" Q4 ^8 |3 F3 k
' y* B- Z4 x7 l/ [9 \( b, oEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
1 G {7 f7 j& Z% `: Y& |government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants v( `3 p) x6 i# i% \' Y# n
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 c/ @2 V; p; \assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
/ e. h% @2 V/ M; I, s' T1 p' D/ cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 \- y1 b. l/ l! g4 S/ v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 e, q, T; S0 R! O2 Q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! I" E/ z8 O6 ? G9 q) J. m
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! P) l' Z& r! M2 ?1 @8 I1 E
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 l, Q. ?! t1 o5 isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' {/ I' j7 I1 u- u" n/ ~% x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and z) k4 N7 K; B: Z, \& I
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, f2 a% e7 I) ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ }0 `1 J( W( T7 T/ O2 j: m& l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 G6 T+ x% U$ V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& E% O9 Y: @- I7 U: P7 x1 T% P# `divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ V: ?4 c! z* p5 V- [' H5 VDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, ]8 _5 ?0 @* Z6 p! R; k J" N
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( G7 a6 N* d2 q5 b, c0 P
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- ]0 K/ ?: I$ A+ ^
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' Z* |! B q" r, Vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( r( h9 f& Y9 l1 r1 @truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 O+ ^ V( h2 s' n, hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 j5 T% h5 C% o5 i3 K! M; ~working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( V& M9 |0 g2 F3 y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 j- ]; F* ^; {- Kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! [$ @7 L! I* T
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! E5 V# F+ }- U5 H5 t0 u5 [8 l
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, X% N" Z3 a$ j# Vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( K3 \0 \$ K% u& R* H4 y4 h7 W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 N' `7 }! Z7 q, @* T; Q6 Cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 w: ?" \4 `! q0 u/ e+ d% U* g" a2 ^; xare spaces. f! z# i s. P/ S
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. M( B1 `6 |* J7 y4 O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ Y$ v' l* ^ ^
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' X5 f6 z/ }6 F) f; [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! X- x4 j) ~# b6 b( @9 t5 Zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( s# I1 j% c7 ~* a4 `
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 C7 Z+ _: R2 c. i" ^, Q B
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( i* u2 y% j5 _( `
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& N9 @) T, ]$ G3 dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' M, \7 j# u+ q6 h e We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
