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
5 Q& O) V9 H% [2 I1 ?standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
~# w/ Z4 u: I& d8 V8 A: ]( ^$ uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' }4 S( V8 m( F! b2 Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 q4 ^4 ?4 ]/ R$ h6 \
answers to our pointed questions.- e' n- J1 m0 m, I. U) H$ Q
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 p5 r& e: i6 y. n6 f0 y. ]45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( H3 f W( A& h0 `+ f- P9 ~1 Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 \* w: r7 h/ N+ K4 I, f/ O) a2 Z. U$ Gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& N% b. [. o$ J# e9 n6 K7 ]; o9 D
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
- f1 L7 m4 K- @0 x: {: Zmedical schools.& d8 R+ v o; q, M! B
: A5 q5 P& h8 R: S+ \Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, Y, \4 l% [3 x# ]$ G. M9 Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 X7 z0 m9 \4 ^' E4 q) l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( f3 X. V" e8 ]. b. c6 o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" N% Z5 T( V& W) B; ?5 F
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 U- x, B2 j$ g# gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- m9 S1 d3 H! S$ \2 I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& l0 I9 W. d9 |# V' `; U, E9 |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 s1 O# P( D$ M$ n" l5 S8 Eshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, s" u9 @9 v3 M c [8 hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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5 o" @0 @% q+ R: h2 }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" S3 u% t2 ?& f! b* D8 A& t4 kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; K0 ]2 |7 g: o+ {' L8 Usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- N" Q8 A7 A7 Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 f* Y1 X! d: |/ n* {' G4 mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ T! R3 r; p" l+ `" p$ O8 M
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high O- ?+ Y9 g( M' }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* H& v1 ^" ?! |/ Q7 VDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 ]0 w2 w, g! R7 i2 y8 t6 V+ T, Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 V. {/ y8 K6 I+ J
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" m# V9 _: ?# ]5 k: h: `2 Bon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- C5 N1 n: ]- m8 w& hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% S8 [" A: o, m7 F; ?: z; ^8 I( jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' [0 v9 \1 g! W+ Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
Z' I( E! Y5 p5 B4 Z& Eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 p! X+ L l5 c9 }% O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: @- x7 z, M3 K6 k( Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
" M8 Q3 s5 q! ]trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ G' k$ d: [0 S1 uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. \8 `9 g+ X) X0 ~people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 K+ V/ y; ^& d& N* g7 R) k2 pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 Z, `( j8 ~; a6 b
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 `4 ?. w- S- E8 U: Z- T
are spaces.
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" i( i4 l! b/ t3 G9 @2 u1 }2 UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( ?" {5 H0 s' E9 p9 h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- m' i, S, q0 Z$ [! ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! ?/ J6 S8 \- y% [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; I: U$ k; w# b) b+ }' I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ y: g! V, y; R( k% u% X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) O' M0 P7 x# i+ ]) v z3 |
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" d2 C( X- l2 i/ a. P
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) Z; D, P: p4 T9 Ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 j p( Y" u" {, y- r& ]
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
