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
' U3 N! m, W) J6 r/ Nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( O- {" Y V& `" T- Ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ O2 n7 p! q- @9 N8 e3 I5 m: t$ e"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 I. y& S# m% s3 a& A
answers to our pointed questions.
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: n. P) U# S3 `; P4 T3 fThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- H4 A7 V' i* r6 ?8 o; [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 y' ~4 M% P6 ?$ b0 x' t$ x0 @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 k" |6 y1 X- ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* O) M6 H Y3 J; U7 o
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, u. [! i T( Vmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# P, O) H! X, v3 Z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* ^! O0 W4 G2 }( Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( K: d- P# s0 U) F' t) S3 j9 [' f/ Uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ y8 A7 G+ G3 @/ `8 b6 `% v# E5 \is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 G1 Y" I! a6 f5 ]
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! T0 P/ |2 q" @* `* T3 ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* Q8 C0 U6 J, N6 Y" A: {0 L0 Kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: }* q' G+ i' c
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- V; G) n! Z$ H- ?1 y* h) |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ A/ L4 G: T: Y- v9 O
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 H- V7 o- Z& G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 r' { D+ N/ _- K, v% Fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& Y! [8 K3 r( o( B1 jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 ^" M' s/ M* l. @5 V4 l/ h- Cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. }' \( s& T3 r+ E+ M% Zsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ Z/ d- n! w* _' ]$ { Gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% P o1 I% ~8 Z* `- j/ cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 G/ m( ?" }/ f, ?+ ^a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 H+ _; s4 |6 Kcharge the fee defined by the state.2 i- U6 x- L7 s' E* B( Q+ Q' K
" b/ o# `% B2 }9 ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ }) P, P& Y( _) f' b% Z$ von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 G! K8 S' a' u) v; p; A- h8 K+ E+ `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 G+ r- V& E/ o& f; n/ l: S8 Ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* O' T! U2 j( E# x9 }9 |2 Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" J5 F* Y/ j, A8 C1 k; u7 eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 |) f0 `8 W; I, q" o& o. W& a# |- sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if V+ G; d: i6 N9 a. T2 v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! e" [/ a4 N, }% Y( J9 i' ?/ [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 {( o I5 T+ p6 f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ X9 v. ] r7 upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 F- M3 M+ r( q& f* u! f# }- U
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 i0 [$ h( H" S! ^, Q+ u* N* X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' o( R' R, G1 ~0 X2 _are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) `. \3 R' Y. A& D3 r, g# @to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, B2 g! J* G5 u6 w
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; x# v) G/ _6 w9 l
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 Q( E+ g; I1 x! P8 G1 Gparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 t4 u' Q7 g* a. I- |3 @; Tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! U0 p# Z5 V3 g. _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 g: L; \% W! T5 x, O L# i: ?car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) x' X$ w! e ^1 [" Kis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% M- R R6 e. G2 v( _' Z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
