我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 z/ l' V5 T) }4 a4 r d& L
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) g- |6 c, g* M& Q4 x1 I. m% v
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 ?4 \9 Z: x, z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; i! H( v7 P! U+ }% P3 C3 y' @* C$ Manswers to our pointed questions.
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! ^- J1 ?- J5 g! f, gThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 j$ ^" T; [$ f+ w x5 X/ n
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 n( w, a1 g5 J* p% `out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: _ f; E/ U* F: h6 vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' e2 o7 I9 q8 S& {1 g7 n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
4 O9 d) Q) J8 \( t. d+ l. jmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! b1 V) C: ~4 g9 l* g3 hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 l9 R! `4 i/ X a/ A" v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- J1 l9 H* F7 v9 j4 t0 Q( Cassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' Z8 H! Y- q4 ?is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to7 M: P8 \7 f! T& o
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
0 ^! i5 T4 n1 E2 j7 Q# Jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 c7 D5 e4 o0 x5 }! m8 Ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 \+ n$ {5 Q4 r4 G1 C" Bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 u2 x3 H5 q7 c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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. D) s' i: D7 u- n1 R* {* ~The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
3 ?; _% _, I2 E7 q7 y) L& Dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 Y! v/ _% ?$ ?" T7 w
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, S3 c. W/ q$ u2 thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 M, [' {& _- }* O8 T! A0 j
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ T7 n! n4 ^0 r R$ H0 Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% S7 I9 v6 @/ }1 f4 P. A1 p" X) d
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ ~$ s1 X& e3 qDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; ?) `) J" y) ]1 {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& Z1 q: ~+ x. _% p7 S* @charge the fee defined by the state.' Y5 Z9 c O' n3 @
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: A% f, ?6 r9 [, o/ \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 e( D5 M3 w& d$ ? z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' g3 u" O6 a+ V' v$ ^' a$ I+ @truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
. I$ k9 A5 s; _0 d- j7 Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 H( ?0 l7 H' q+ v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 H. E* C3 w; U
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, V/ N v# Z g j8 _
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- e7 [9 p- z( D* X F) ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
m' ?9 a8 w2 v7 J5 {% V Khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# D# g) S5 ~# ?. f7 y2 M; t& A
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, s7 d# B4 ?/ `& n) n# n( H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, N( t# P; d% ? o9 q' {
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 o. n6 _+ a3 u2 ]2 ^+ j3 B5 C; Y
are spaces.
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3 w; b4 ~& H* H3 N/ iThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ X9 K5 J4 D: d# s b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 j3 q& t5 |! \/ ^1 q* ^" Z4 Q- x9 P( e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 g& `+ o1 J- f H% `40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different7 M- ?8 J2 O% O& z5 C& A5 s7 l
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 A& R7 R$ ?4 t8 F' }
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" j5 C2 L( }4 e- S! d9 E
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 ^. ?% O, t+ R0 O8 n2 b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ A9 J9 J: f8 O5 G) K4 h) yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 _, R+ j- p3 ^: b! u5 M- X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
