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
3 i7 [+ C& u* P. Hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
# j' N$ P4 x+ d; ?7 t: M# L' |- ^& l1 Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 L) [( m/ k& q- J! f9 s"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! p1 H) j0 o" e! c& {& R) Oanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- W! U, g3 W {6 ~6 C; k- ^: H
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" A- z& D$ {7 p4 v6 j' Oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 M* u( } l7 R& ]. j% J
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, Q$ p6 u" M5 Y* g4 [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 N7 u& ?- i2 ?3 e; qmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 R( P5 l$ o7 k+ `3 y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ \% T. V& ~- u. W! t. ^ Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' L: v; `+ u. G. ~2 sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! ]+ K9 o G* x, ?1 O* zis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 X p& `; d: W
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% n; Q- E0 O0 v# zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and( `. W( I- N" I: z8 ?% `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' t/ o/ A2 \9 B8 W
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, R% ^) L! T: G; [6 E( K2 Y/ P2 j
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; a8 }3 s3 Z; }6 I
1 C) A6 f: g+ a) o9 v' @4 }5 xThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 U z$ |, Q7 |3 u/ \( Hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: w) p( m2 c7 P) W8 usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 S r! B3 {/ S7 zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 _3 o a* [3 s- i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 Q b. q$ E/ K; [5 A7 W. R
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, q D6 u7 Q( e' I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% V3 e( `7 u7 [2 d8 D2 k0 _
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 E3 v6 S4 D! D7 v- M0 R
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; H# u |7 i# v M8 u5 |charge the fee defined by the state.
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2 q/ B# O4 ] eThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: j3 a7 _9 k: d8 D+ f3 i; F
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, n6 T1 d" {, \7 r& Q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ v, v$ B# [& @) M% T! P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# \% s# D9 Z+ ? }- U4 v) b! s: H4 Y, q% bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 p* {4 u+ K2 `# O9 \( X zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 o0 S& V" V* _1 c7 h8 r' K2 q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
5 U9 w, v4 j$ fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ F- O9 O" i* E& W: g
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 M4 l* B& @" c1 I. [
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 J8 @$ k+ Q" M& O" }' {3 v) l
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' N- B3 e0 i/ z6 W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 V3 A6 o6 Y5 ? k6 D1 a% m" |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there' |* m; M: d, O. [4 a
are spaces.
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% t. N$ ]+ ^) |4 NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ Z4 u( O7 X2 b7 ?6 B, I6 M6 z
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, Z% z" V6 V4 u' H. z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 \6 M6 X; A2 G* y; h$ J! ^- g40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 h- u: B V0 J; H) uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- K. ^2 q% P. ?) nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! E; v6 j; Y$ unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 m. E8 C4 p- l) kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 T3 w& A* q- R& n4 {9 Y/ g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 G% B4 _& p. d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
