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$ N& m( l% e& T J
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- O3 V/ h6 T8 O, b7 z5 uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,: ^" K4 F0 C! Z8 R: B3 y$ b' f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; f7 Z- k$ c7 d6 D& q0 F
answers to our pointed questions.1 _, {, s8 p+ I2 }& A6 }/ t% `# a1 Y
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 b {7 g5 Q0 {2 u2 N& U" O
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# B6 E6 @' k9 R, V3 \) M, t8 ? uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: V9 N' f, {. S e
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ H# l4 T5 ]3 Z/ C$ b Mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 D5 Y4 J5 H8 y- p4 E
medical schools.
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2 p! @# S2 y: n) ~' V3 k. WEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 H! I& a0 \, V( U1 h8 Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% `, G7 A& R: Tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& a9 M% {1 J/ f Gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* q' L% Q0 E; [* h; S. N: [; pis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, k# S W7 O# q0 R: P0 x, m' L
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 O* n1 `, c/ t/ P+ A8 |seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 S* B. v0 o7 b- S2 Ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 Q. C9 [' Q2 u) T3 e7 d6 A# v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 _0 ?- d6 x6 r8 [) _& t4 b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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) Z- r8 w% ]% E/ u8 K3 tThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 M/ q( P/ t5 V$ H V9 C
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& t+ J' S L# v1 jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 k5 R$ J q1 i% `" Z9 h
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ O4 S+ w+ ~' }1 k. r; U9 e) Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 p7 F4 g$ P) i8 V, s. Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) c% Y, k& p+ h; {% N7 Z3 ^
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 O/ i6 L0 E. L, W' h% n1 ^3 R
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: ?0 h ]* X6 D2 Q+ r* U
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
* p2 |: A/ r- ~: ^$ J9 lcharge the fee defined by the state.! F$ v+ S. | S9 j: i
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, d/ u/ q4 V4 k' X% s" h. {& M' e" _on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ L5 [+ x7 s/ Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ y; j7 Y$ o4 J# \ D! L/ J" c7 F* \
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 T0 X0 c# V3 c( K1 t- s* ? Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ U( s! V& e# P6 }, [. Z# E* gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ {& n: Y# f2 j8 ?8 _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% } h$ `: o3 e9 }3 V2 ?8 @
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
# N& E5 |+ J9 B% z! i0 r, T# q9 ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch s- @5 H$ M4 p& [: m$ ?$ C N% |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% g9 N' G8 b+ I9 q$ o$ kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* C) n% o2 U7 s' {to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ `0 `/ j) _% w Y; d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 t2 I$ A0 P: B2 }( [! V
are spaces.6 K( z7 g) F7 ?4 T0 ` x% F
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% l, g9 Z0 y& _$ yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- W/ z5 j& T& O$ A$ D! n) {
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 m- q8 E# r3 v) O% l6 d# l; \40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 @ i6 v! }* k9 Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ q3 {* _( A5 T7 Qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" _- `! t4 g3 t6 I% [8 m cnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 ]7 ?6 J. `5 J+ l3 o9 j% Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
w( k1 K+ v9 I* e0 F" ]is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 M# H; h$ c' ?3 |) t2 h We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
