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
?% v: m; B* e% {) l3 zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went _1 T4 [, a2 l! k% j* d+ J. t( w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 F ?: `" _* _* g- j2 o) B1 C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; L7 M0 f( q) m1 \: l
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( O( `) k" [! O0 h' u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( X$ p: Y4 F$ c. k7 Vout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. n4 R. C5 [7 @; _5 ]- D8 F0 ?free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' t" |0 Z8 O" u2 I; A) Q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# l- S0 c+ Y7 a# k& R# K9 U
medical schools.
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& c3 f3 j3 a) K4 t6 YEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( H5 ]1 H7 ]- R& } p$ [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' n- ~6 J' {) {; s' g
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; a. K, X+ P. jassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& I/ l. b5 E5 `( L- p+ Uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 E; @& P- Q5 B+ t$ ~# g8 d: v: Z
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, z0 _0 C2 u" T4 T; yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' b* B5 x; d+ y% J! Z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) ?' f, k( Z# w f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 C/ g" {+ j# `. ~6 y1 I; m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 Q7 ^! o" B: N# ]
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no @' b) I" {% }$ R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% o! W; r# z. I8 k/ r7 Osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ U' n* @+ H$ X9 y2 S' P
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 d0 o5 A- n% Q( r/ g( O) J5 wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( z/ y# I/ [, h" M& Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 A' v7 d; x8 g; x) O' Y8 f" o; edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.1 a$ a- m, X D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ p" P8 J& P4 ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" i- y" N+ ]$ Y$ O3 r, K
charge the fee defined by the state.
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& |' W8 j( `) y/ M% U4 ^+ C% d+ SThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 V/ Q2 T7 v& U% {7 N) }) S
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 u" h# H# m, m0 C
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 j' f$ s2 u4 T9 `, x/ d$ m9 Vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 b) z9 w: G; s) }7 t$ Q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 s5 `. ~% D) K0 o# s# qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& p8 ^7 e7 M4 E0 p7 a- u% K) [
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 p( S5 J2 F3 u! S% @! Zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) H# S0 a n! V% l$ o) `+ htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 u" m8 R; a- f* T3 {% ghiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% ]) p3 @( s, l/ y5 j$ _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ ~, y. g! C4 L# H' u+ K! b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! L1 a3 C( a5 ^, F! B, s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: f0 f1 A+ Y* n" Q7 ~
are spaces.5 _/ f% T* [9 M4 I
& ~# [9 f+ ~2 @7 J0 O* ?6 ]; G& k, NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 r( I1 x: v! ^3 h) qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" D) B. }$ l S: a
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& \2 u" k7 y B8 \/ M& E
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( S" F2 t4 C; d' d$ m/ F7 Y A3 r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: K1 z8 H" X4 Y- s# H) U+ W
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 l& F0 e. m" _! M- P
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 O8 H+ g+ H, H+ jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 @; p) K0 ~# l! B5 Jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- E3 g. D; ]# u+ q) I' c( n We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
