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
: ]/ d2 @' ~1 ]: V" ustandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ A& A! I$ j7 Non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# L( u/ v2 ^" D- h9 p+ ?) F"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- t2 D; i1 ^( j
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; m$ f# s1 o, C! w; N) F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 ] n# @3 ~' n* U4 ], ~
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 r- V$ W; R( rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ y8 @* z: L/ S- F4 D
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ \/ ^/ [0 C: F* P; B5 Imedical schools.( W( D5 m2 c8 D6 P$ q, q- y ^
$ M& z6 y9 K5 a. m x7 J5 \# r- yEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 _; Y: C- z1 c2 O& P; ?government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 \0 e& z+ l" v2 |" n
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
@. ]# w/ @1 P: yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& {$ h7 O+ H9 r- \ P- J% sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; e& C$ p" [- N" V w& h$ yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 f2 T* j$ n) d5 qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& I1 C; m# \8 S2 l) j" Z6 T% {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
}- O" ?* N9 \! u0 nshortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ F* Q, U# g2 Q& v
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- d9 \5 }2 E1 v0 j
# _' a+ z; s5 {6 H: g$ k& j( cThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# V: o1 n4 E. @& t, Jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* v& I5 u6 h( ]) N0 _1 Z/ U* w
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( W9 \1 s }* }; g3 V4 }have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! \- ~+ J4 M5 A" {! v# {# B3 Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 m& |1 Q. V. i; p0 R; `* G/ j
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
P' d4 B3 v! hdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 h* P; W5 P$ H6 b& l# }$ aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 E% V5 }; M4 n3 E5 A
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 N( o7 z5 x8 V- I @charge the fee defined by the state.4 K! U- w E; f8 E- C1 t
6 T. k& W5 {% s( d; b4 F$ b6 hThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 s, Z5 A5 H1 v) v1 W3 Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- }+ u4 P, @8 kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) u8 l7 m5 ^ ^truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% {0 {( h8 ^- ?' I
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' q" k" G. @$ o4 A3 B5 iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) r9 }4 v' z/ `/ R2 c: b, u
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' Z4 }. [( N8 v+ u. w* dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- i4 X/ y- d6 {7 H2 O8 Utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ y* H, k) k0 x# z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* @& G, Q ?/ c! V0 C1 h o) x
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want e% Z/ A2 L' a, a
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 \% v( v& ~: G6 T' \. A- w8 U. P/ Q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 F+ B0 N' y: x5 |% }
are spaces.
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3 o7 g' T2 C0 a; m/ r, f! g, |+ |There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" u8 I, D. s0 M$ ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ ~% n9 Z+ j" O1 _own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the R7 {0 c( h4 t$ a: X& `6 [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: |% H* B, f* o i" |& M- ]parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" p8 ]% m& y- d$ g! L# u
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 G8 T# G2 X& K/ M- d' P' B% e. `nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, E' P4 P" X& }, K( U8 Ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it z. f' P/ c6 R' M& m9 u! e t$ F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 ]6 k# _' e i$ {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
