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
& Q. H9 V8 w" q& P; ~, Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 |" a2 v& z, B/ C
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, Z3 o, Y$ A* `3 ]2 Q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 L$ p s3 k6 K1 {6 J: K& Oanswers to our pointed questions.
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$ @5 K6 _1 A) \) Z* h- q' i1 c2 OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; ^# Y' F& E4 W4 K. ? |5 j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" s2 ?0 X$ {+ ? S% i/ c
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% H& O+ @! v" ^' l3 Y$ Z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 b# O. `+ Q& w% u% x$ hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# O1 R% S7 t. g
medical schools.7 ~; i( s# E' Q: l: N4 W* \7 [
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 a7 @7 t$ a( y8 O% ^2 `+ Xgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' b7 x) j2 c+ J$ }+ E8 T: Eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 |) o! s, S( s) N/ s0 Dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 K' U: k) a% p: x) x
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% h1 R" {" g+ F1 B, t
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" l3 M/ U [8 L8 G2 O cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 i% {0 L- }% f+ i% l) B
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
E& z: Y- j6 M( _4 P* H; eshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 x3 e" T4 `- V, P% p/ o& y: Bsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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. x6 X* T0 C" ~& q) LThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, f$ t3 t7 T X5 k7 G
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 I4 S8 j: r& u( p) D9 T: B4 osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 k7 }! O4 a1 bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ ?# V/ b& L. f/ z k! Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" t2 Q3 m8 q1 b# gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
! w* ~1 a8 S( |0 e+ Qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, v7 G, K t% i! o+ q; D1 fDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 p+ }) e. p1 l% k3 k; La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; r6 j J) O; A u3 I- W' {charge the fee defined by the state.1 J7 N+ X8 h V" ^+ p( C; a
; H1 z# B: Z: p9 O9 s. \$ xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* D/ f) I3 }; Y1 }( u2 O) lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 Z! P; L! t. t5 X6 w( y) Rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 I. q* G" p+ r* Z; ~( C" Y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. @; E& y. Q3 B% E" [' K- n) P
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% C# Q/ w% ~ ~! d3 ^: [working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ F' @: O T1 q+ W0 U4 o. Z
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: ^# v/ q4 z( w ]
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! d# f4 H, }$ L8 G" F! e+ btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ S; \; A" R& R7 ]
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- `7 {6 p. f2 d" k* O0 ^/ x: @people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& d. X% R7 N m5 Q8 S# d1 {
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 ]6 h3 B ~2 a+ h( I
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ H4 L, x( A( E2 F" pare spaces.
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. D8 x( Y) k6 G& M. S% s) R l8 M0 lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 {; a5 W) ?" [8 V
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* g) g- N) a7 v$ \" f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! j# k' f( \) h/ s0 o
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 O( l6 e. s3 n7 A# n" t- w7 A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 A! r( u$ o3 V! ?/ o5 Z4 m4 i3 I# [% A/ Kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& `- I5 k. y9 Wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of4 T% F5 {2 s* l+ K; v
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 K0 I; @! ?5 \is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 c1 _6 u+ }( p% Z9 |- G
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
