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
; S7 [, r5 Z) z4 h$ _, u. J1 X1 t: mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% q; {, j- n3 d# u! son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' t; q# q+ j# v"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 z) b4 n8 H" D( ]
answers to our pointed questions.+ l Z7 L B! P
& o/ L2 F; F5 |+ u, h7 LThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 b+ I1 E9 J, [1 |, I' b45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* Y; x4 f% Y- q) h* uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& I# l. {& E1 Q! }; M' ~2 I7 U& z: Ifree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 C! D) ~% b4 O D t* o$ E3 E& A
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& A4 k( o% l4 q0 N- d. \1 A( v( t
medical schools.6 `8 {7 s; d8 h0 T0 C T/ B y/ O
8 T+ l" n* d$ I# tEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 H( x; L, u0 Q: z# _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' I& E, U+ r' l6 ~to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 F0 m! [! t7 t3 M) v2 k# ~
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- }7 S* K g- r6 Y: a1 p# Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ |+ C) X% ^# N5 [. G
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ Z. B4 D: J' \: D" zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
) h9 E2 r V8 }, ~( f0 Qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 `$ O$ s4 b2 M; e6 S3 \shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 z3 e8 {: a ~2 P! w+ }, ]sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 j0 o. w0 D8 G! aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 G$ {) m. u$ r, j$ c- t
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 c( j' h) y. g+ y* G) m4 F% ?
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 W/ [6 T! K" K% r% a6 ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
9 D; J8 r2 s9 c3 F* z3 G, cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 x- l C; e" c9 Z, d/ O
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- z4 f8 z4 Z$ c( e; Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 l( m, z& P6 ]. I6 M: {+ y2 a
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; w" j$ I2 [( F# I
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 a3 y( {- ]; O& f* w% I
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 u% n7 c" e5 j: a% U4 @! O! Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 c( x( E$ `* J9 U1 Q% Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& n2 K7 |! Q, {" [1 ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# a8 k* N( T0 \4 }5 |9 f6 s9 m8 [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ U0 J8 ^8 z# L: E, b& F
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% [& S0 ~: @: a. t5 b
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! U2 y% j% i6 A9 U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 u9 y$ X b, |. x, ~
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! q/ P1 L8 g0 C& Thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' _9 ]* D! Z5 I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 \& a' o% ~- p* v. G# s( O2 ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 O; `* d; c, X& Q4 Y0 i9 L' i1 [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ A! e7 R7 ^: l7 g+ u% t
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ c' H7 p: \& k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 F/ C! _' T3 P) w* L0 f8 down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* q2 m1 M( @9 s40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 C4 D8 W: v% E) N+ ~% _
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 z. Q7 e: k8 X5 ], \! m" J7 ?best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ l" {! E6 t- [) x% i* \
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 @. T- w# a3 h2 j3 ]' ?& [# l
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 v) r+ J7 ]( T8 Z+ H
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; F* h" S0 x0 r* y% ?7 H
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
