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
9 g- n+ v8 b/ `5 z9 ~9 qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. J% c. A: k% W9 z, w1 non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# H% }) M- z9 F, ?. T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 I# e% a9 ]* `3 J }3 _3 f
answers to our pointed questions.
# p% p0 f- F8 j. O* X a5 G9 F5 R5 ` c+ ?" a
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 `! z" B* u" \45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 U& T( h: f3 X9 |4 a) ~8 L4 K) t$ V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 F) }% X4 i3 l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) \" Z5 J- q2 sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 S* N! K8 a' R5 Z/ v
medical schools.
/ W1 k G$ Q2 f, u5 [. {' `- `
" i/ K# s7 m! V: h( h6 UEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( Y" ?) L" }" v, K% w& o' Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ E% I- e g" g8 `5 i% B
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# B6 e; }! F$ ~& |! I! R0 p
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( v1 u% p9 S- v% G; F1 ^
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 S7 J3 L0 u tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" F/ p( `: r& j+ ]# c9 ^: g
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 K$ c. L0 P1 F- p0 O! R/ x0 `& {8 m
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ f5 }( e1 ~- d6 w8 R, qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some! q/ ]+ g) y; c8 H% O7 i1 o" H4 h' `
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
, p2 G; o. q4 K$ y0 k$ [: b; j0 w( f( M2 _' P0 x0 d
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 S& {' X7 [& }$ d" R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: ]4 `; B6 f' G; [1 C# h7 T3 `2 K" Osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# r5 a4 u& d; R; K0 Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ k, f1 W1 m' Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( F5 M/ f5 q' p# j5 ^+ X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 B+ W1 p8 X R& ] Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 W, g. R( F; C5 s6 ^; @- g( K* PDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& ?8 y% Y: i0 R. [: B9 z+ ~ Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 X( D6 B6 y. z+ R, ]: Z' B* F4 H
charge the fee defined by the state.
. E- G* J1 i$ L; V2 q! x! i' e! o% Y2 k# C6 ^2 g$ [( t( {
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ [" `4 W0 ]$ U4 Z7 K/ `on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, R i3 ]! U; U! ^0 l* W1 Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 ]2 ]' }1 C! B$ _/ D$ ?" struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- \0 z; `+ \# f; `, W, ]) U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 S F4 C1 t2 X" ]( A
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" q1 Z4 S; d1 @' Q, L+ q1 Tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! `8 f Q0 e- ~2 ~8 L) o7 e
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! w* m# B; O2 {( G5 D- ~) D+ z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' I- L$ M3 _, k0 R9 T
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- P) o$ q. d' P" h& {$ e" Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: r. n0 K+ c8 B$ |/ e% n8 Z' ]% wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 }* j7 \' t% Q+ f, `. W6 [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 s: R& Y7 u7 [, s! T$ i- a
are spaces.: T1 \4 C0 y( a$ q0 C4 {1 a
# K; u) c6 c, l1 d) e+ K
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# p* J9 E' a' Q$ W8 ^& ?% P
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ W2 D' v7 h8 w& G- K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 `+ ]6 S% P0 m1 ^* o3 }) L2 O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; I, n& W2 Y. u9 tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) ^3 h1 ^" m0 x: {! C9 n
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 J' h: O) R9 M+ ?' [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 e- n& }, V! ^0 A* x2 }9 H1 Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" g; h& {" L5 wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ Z; ]7 J Y9 h2 F" m7 L
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
