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) s# L# \3 B8 y1 s, o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 B$ q0 r9 n7 |/ p* g
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 z" X9 j8 n$ `! s"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" y5 |: X7 q/ A
answers to our pointed questions.: {8 k/ `& i( n+ _% n" V
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; e" w! }) V! j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand0 y/ s( O8 T4 g% I
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is _5 k5 M$ A4 m" l" k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ u$ ^5 _' q4 U0 {5 G' u; ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 L6 o" y" H Q( U- p! k
medical schools.+ W; x$ V7 v) Q, N; q
- [; O$ J% I/ P cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& X5 ^: _8 ~8 v9 \: x3 [/ ?government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* T4 r# i) J3 O+ Y, Zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 J+ u6 x: r) W7 Z; J7 a! q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ B0 P% W6 E* ]' U6 A" sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; Y4 I, m1 o0 K- J8 e( S0 z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 h% f1 z4 r! u" k% z* X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& r2 ]) [ ^7 U! w; [3 smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 t( _3 @" E$ e+ Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some% ^8 l: p' `- G1 k8 t! h$ V# ~
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ f' v# ]1 S6 H6 K9 V( }- L! ?8 d* `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 Z5 E; |* D+ h a2 ]) B$ xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* B) r B' ]. J6 l m. ^. i- o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 h/ i, _2 f. H; c# \8 Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 I S5 Q+ b+ O$ Athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
* {/ S0 u" b& x/ ^8 M4 o/ V) vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" Y5 l. q# W W/ o o
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( \$ ~9 o- F5 E1 [/ W/ ~/ D. mDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, V$ t$ I9 Q/ |3 T! H& r x1 [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ H4 o3 W/ v8 s" M& d8 Qcharge the fee defined by the state.( L7 Z: i2 T9 L8 d- l
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: H2 M/ ]$ T! Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 ?. a8 M6 q5 }# U1 l4 r# J# S+ Hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 \* n6 s- M- R3 R% ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! u1 ]4 O! @2 u0 f5 l; d
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, |- R" x, p" _- aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 X! F0 s! I7 {3 c. xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( U" t. G6 T+ {% c" P- t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 J4 J- N2 K* o: i [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 A; i8 V8 M- q. D4 p. l+ D, t5 j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& _2 G) k5 N# K# W4 ~& c& q7 lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 h7 Q, i; r1 ]; {
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 O0 M" r; M7 R$ z! j/ _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& C4 D/ [* t' @' X# N. l( T
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 T5 n6 g ?: ]" Cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: s" _) x4 P7 Y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 o0 P1 _$ d9 A" F& v40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different8 e R1 j9 c' ?5 h' @4 m
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) {4 w( U$ }$ M" n
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- J- A& o0 [- Y+ x5 Mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
[6 v' h/ r4 t+ bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 \% ]' B4 Z9 h5 b @$ x4 s0 o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( [' L7 O/ {4 Y3 U4 O( C: g7 t; X* Z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
