我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 s3 U! @/ d- `, c3 b1 Y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( K* |. Y# `- G7 d( F# ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* _1 k `: Z$ Q# Q- a; n1 Q4 g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 j; o, s5 X- [5 C5 Q0 B
answers to our pointed questions.$ w8 x0 \+ J% g/ U
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( k% V$ \; M. _: |. c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: x7 G2 Z' J# u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ V/ o8 C# G' v! u" Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" E, J7 ]5 d& m1 y, }
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# q" ?6 n: p* d: [' b" B! rmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ I# ^+ G* {5 zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. R$ L w6 N; {- o! w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 q4 D4 g b. C# ^% h! E! _
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 x/ W- S/ t) N0 I, Dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 l0 N& H6 l8 S- q1 q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 r2 X, }2 c/ ^! d+ k5 |. Xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( D) _5 m: ?0 t4 l8 g) zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* O* ^4 E ]: h8 J- { cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 K; G- N6 y! J' t' J& j/ z# t7 ^# _% ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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" U- T8 K8 ~3 e/ lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& y/ q* R K+ Z) k6 h
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and |1 w; V1 L+ N( m* {* S
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- d' _% P6 T# x( W! whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. m* C. Y, K6 \7 k+ {
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# L7 P7 }/ Z! a3 X9 s$ gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 v6 T$ K7 a# [7 p7 \, n2 K6 N
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- a- c' ]- _" \7 F, ZDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ z' e5 F# l& A3 ?0 Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only x! Y6 d5 r: I, p, I! b
charge the fee defined by the state.5 P" d) i! m6 \- `" w2 K* g
1 M/ ~! K: r aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 [4 T* B( n& W' z2 y% M( x
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ y9 {3 u4 u: }* `- U
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% U+ J& s6 ?, W$ T( `
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 b1 x- b3 M) I! j
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* A. r( r; n* j$ X. Y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ J; h8 V! c5 y! L
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. J! u. |7 J* J8 ?; T( V. vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 }+ W8 V9 W- w' O" c2 K, `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 a; d# U/ J& R1 d) Z% q8 ]1 w0 |hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 G) g4 q b7 X" H+ L. w. F# e; gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 C( u1 R- ?, Z" q/ j2 x5 h+ P
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) K/ J$ i1 \ Z4 |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
I, N6 [6 r1 y: T: pare spaces.4 d7 y: w" B5 k8 F
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; {3 j9 l' ~" ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# m5 @6 N; C" y T& _own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 d2 G6 h0 N& ?9 o: f7 d* \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! F: X( {* z5 |. \parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 d& V) w: m, m U6 j kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 ?6 a5 w+ [3 q4 J+ t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ g* @$ R. s8 `# Q% P% L$ I- _* L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, k6 |: R+ \) N" e
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 D i* n4 M/ c" ? q- o. w
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
