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& Q& u% I" J; u; O# j9 O0 m+ P) k
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& N% ]1 [! @2 h$ `8 |! V' [" Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( N' F; @& Z( J) R! k3 n4 A1 o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: L( y" o5 j5 S
answers to our pointed questions.9 @* m* \' n" B. f
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% b4 m* p4 P2 j# Y4 B) {! N
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ k: K; _; G! n' F6 ]- g+ k" J
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
7 I0 n. s- r# H7 L# y* p# o& z8 Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; m0 r+ [# b' [# zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
1 }$ b, m( `* t& V2 b* v+ \medical schools.7 b& K6 L( H1 N. q9 g* R4 a
" l/ |7 N- i; L+ c" gEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ @+ y* ]. [' V1 w k1 x
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) U3 q* _2 L( `: }, Q! P; P1 h! vto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( X/ E t. v# \6 S, H
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% |! a0 {6 e8 Q! h3 ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 `' Z6 G$ `3 k( p' |1 `7 \over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- i3 C& Q5 N( e% k! I4 Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' x7 W# J" K0 a0 D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 Q) h6 A& m/ U
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some" p* q& Z m" ~. f1 v1 @+ @$ W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! J" ^( E4 v+ |private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# W: C0 [: B) q9 e4 O: dsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% e! k+ i: l3 T( y1 vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" d2 S3 {2 S1 R) c
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 p# x7 q- Y# Z2 \# N, v% Asitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( u- k! G4 J8 ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.1 M- X% k O9 B* o
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ a3 O0 x7 Y5 I5 C
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ _7 F% z- X: Q9 P# M6 u+ u
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 z1 K) l$ w7 p2 Jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# k/ S$ I( J( F9 n9 N# o& h
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big ~0 M7 F* \! ^3 Q) ^- B6 Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ z& C: }; w0 Z1 ]" b( Oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
d9 _2 v* m' j' A3 {6 G1 uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; K% a" L: W: k3 y* g% s& e# i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) X+ _9 ]& C! y; I8 u# y: yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 `: v$ u) l4 _9 R6 btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 B6 _+ D% | Z* r6 n0 ^
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 k# W, i- R& g7 I. S1 v L+ m" D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 T$ r' g! p$ i$ Z# p
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# I: d) R% O' m; |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 \0 _1 T) f* B
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: w- E' C& f& u* a- b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' ?9 z; P: G- l8 Y$ G# q, R
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 D. n4 Q& v# {0 T0 k0 P40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ G% M- ?; J4 i& Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 l4 R4 d( E" ]5 y* i+ }4 ]6 b
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) X- G% d8 Q" t" _6 {6 M
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ h! G- j l3 O5 X# O
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' W4 s7 L6 J U: _! m2 E" ^is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 N( S" Z; D+ b7 `* U: g- j1 [" z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
