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 M( @+ g: R, C- c3 }1 \
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 G- v7 o+ q! V: d; p* K
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ P1 m$ c8 b4 c0 O/ [5 V* W1 T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* I6 l1 a& F" j @" u6 r) N0 janswers to our pointed questions.- m% F' D6 ^# D; }5 ^
5 x$ o5 @5 P/ t; {) PThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 V* L6 ~1 }6 b( z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 U) B' |" r- Y7 b& M/ I5 ^8 u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# o0 W& I- R* i+ W, ^ \
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 i6 P0 Q' Q% T( e* }. W6 D, _to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ r5 E5 V% E/ x0 l \# N4 e" @9 _7 R+ fmedical schools.. H0 D" [/ v& v" {
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the9 W: C, V- q" W0 V; ?" L2 }
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( J" ?: A! A B( `9 eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' _3 E8 l& @+ c2 a3 `% |, g3 f- oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& ]" u4 z& G$ x7 [" w$ F% |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: ?( x- r7 f& B, {over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ T4 }& R( Z4 k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ v0 l# f: {3 C# U/ @) [: rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ ~* V4 @2 y3 i; w+ b$ m6 D
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% I2 j1 R5 i# tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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" m% P0 {$ ^; J% P2 U: XThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* ^2 j1 x& P+ i, I7 |- n% `) ^: S
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: g" i- L+ T! h, e8 X
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) d5 ^$ v) P$ J0 [4 {have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, P/ j- p& g# H
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: q, ] H8 B! msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( o/ l/ {; R" H0 n. K- |( M7 L
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ I+ v4 ^$ P" V3 J: cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 {5 `2 }! t5 M/ Q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; a! w# Q y* I9 tcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 G/ J; r0 R* K' \: son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 y9 l x$ d" w8 g, m8 Jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& A3 N: r- h+ A/ t( u, V+ d
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! l5 x& h4 O, h& X( ]/ C
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 j1 \- Y/ w, S# X4 qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' Z4 Q" D2 X8 y- v$ J2 S8 H" }
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: f. W0 x: J0 y# ]$ m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) v) k4 y5 `7 v/ x, n, O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! ~9 q* X% C4 k
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. D' L; \( u. Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: H# L% M9 q! j& z6 w
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' |+ d8 G. V; q/ P) D7 d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 ]3 Y ]7 M! l* b$ w; e' _. Y
are spaces.1 Z% _% f4 S5 `4 k* D
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ @" g J# p$ n( N- b; y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 B0 F+ p; M0 u+ M9 b2 `own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ h8 X( a$ {% m. X9 l
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, S# f& `' t5 a1 S) V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# I; f" L+ R' o9 V& I0 e$ ^" z* v, J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 O' q8 d& F. o& B* mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 o; ?1 P1 I, X T6 Y, V) {$ Y1 Fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 X$ t _! h" j7 c% jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." C7 x8 n. j, M9 \/ c$ T- `4 c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
