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
/ f* X+ E3 U+ W, w% ^4 a+ C5 o# |standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 Q Y9 R9 Y7 C' o
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
~& F$ r9 a: ^( A3 v"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" r4 ]* x! j) A4 n. n- i, manswers to our pointed questions.
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8 [( v! X1 w& yThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 T4 ^* |8 }/ ?* A' W* x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; _ N; F5 d8 L4 K
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ Y! |2 O4 q/ X- T5 x; Efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. m1 `5 L' ?7 ~8 [/ K% _0 wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, V k5 w) G3 _" L) B7 z' Rmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 C+ k' E! x( i& ?: a2 v% f
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' Q! t' l* b9 s1 r$ hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' U1 L' J4 O- S+ i- P+ M- U; Z1 qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' C6 V1 H5 F I& D- c- X* Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* {( d& `9 f8 p1 N& Q, jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, `6 D" r6 j8 W5 t5 x1 @: C" X! O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- x1 i* D% x) e2 m. U d+ o7 B% h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 c2 u4 K% Y) \, ]% O/ m+ M, h5 X: X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some, n k4 e' [0 W- p: X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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1 `0 k3 z" j0 `* ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
@# A0 ~5 f' r) j) aprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" W. D( P5 U8 J+ {1 w# l
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people2 y- D" G1 u( n |7 z+ X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ I/ e8 X0 N6 ?! J6 \2 B
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 p+ _/ |9 ^3 Q0 i# n% c9 }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 D9 _% U2 i* \9 @' I" {' w( u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 i5 m) j. ~6 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 C2 V0 s' C% P* j2 ?a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" J' k% x- L, h6 W3 v$ I; B
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% _! \8 b/ m6 p' Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. _# c" S+ _% F9 q, O+ X# Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; D4 W! b$ J& Q1 u& |6 ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
E* Q ]) l( \seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 v, X& ?% L. s* h# C% H/ ?9 P1 w( Mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 m+ W" {' L6 c( @# K, jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 l- W0 R: t" W+ iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
7 q; Q* g3 @' }; j: V! htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, Z* u0 k9 G, ghiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& ^+ ?+ l; {' npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' W# d! ~0 F3 r# }6 ? ^5 Dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) h% X1 ~* a* X; {
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; j9 C8 y4 O$ q( G% H% Gare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! U+ M" O b% ~3 @
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 R& b0 c6 I! |& n, b" v3 ]; qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 E' V8 I: i( d) x) h* p
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 s- @5 S, C4 o/ Q5 R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( `- h! X; d$ n1 obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ V6 y3 v: u# ~
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 M3 k x" r7 ]) S; |* ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; [. h5 j/ K# {4 R& F- Kis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ \* N: _0 }4 D' h6 b& O& A
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
