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
& O/ I; I9 [3 E0 rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) j- v' b5 q2 T% F' W9 `
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 {- s% E# R: @0 c- ^4 o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ g6 O" I: B0 H) P. ]; @
answers to our pointed questions.# C$ l# [1 o. }& O9 X! s) g; [ U$ G
* v) d1 g% W" U) I8 M7 FThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( J) m! s: y$ {" K! r2 M45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! {7 `/ P) ?& M! J* n
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ C* G! |; d& Q$ Ffree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( U' w- a) m1 [, M* \* d
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& V" o; V7 `# N4 m5 v4 ]
medical schools.$ N5 c+ S' u+ b" E9 O
* _: U& p' P% P9 NEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' z6 v! x# c( d1 X# P: f8 X+ _government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% A* @# [5 I8 ?4 ]7 O
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ M0 K" M" z a' y0 z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' G' c# I0 ^7 v8 c. U# ^is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- D, l' P0 M- nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ h5 y: E# M; n
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 ] e) ]- M2 ^% C
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' B$ [+ _$ X9 ?/ M4 X) f0 d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 E* T. D2 z7 t4 N: G8 B* {2 j* V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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; ]5 E" O9 ]; d, vThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
2 }+ R1 x, C: ^4 |( Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; F+ X" W3 L+ b4 U4 }
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
% b+ H7 v( [: _% B: H. D& S8 Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! {8 H% r) N8 X3 V0 g( k/ Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 @7 Z6 \9 O. K/ _, isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
9 p" }/ N& Y( [divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ s0 }2 X8 D/ rDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ [, F: `$ }# F" @. s! ^/ ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 F) Z' V( k ?& a9 jcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ Y3 d5 a6 d- _( L6 h: n3 i3 x
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 d3 c0 n$ |" P2 R; P4 c
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* O" w3 A6 y6 K6 u7 V7 \/ ^' ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" x; |( V( I* q A8 h8 J/ x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 Q0 G4 `$ o& G7 K7 H
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: a' ^9 S8 L( l. e1 T! aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' \) S6 Y$ c9 c/ Z" qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, i! X5 p8 x( G3 }: Q, f5 L
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 n5 @ \# }0 W0 H2 K3 _, n
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
& ]9 ?' }' a) O K8 F( lpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. X' t1 ^% S/ P5 h. Z/ \
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 u" T! F9 }& S% J1 m f# Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% U% B0 q4 V0 ~( s! C. `# p
are spaces.- J0 r: ?0 E1 L/ c) l+ o
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- U- j4 e, [ |6 bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# J/ m) L6 F. _ I8 T0 m- a. K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. m d7 ]- c2 c8 e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 m0 o; E$ {, b3 E C p7 `
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! @) Z: D9 w5 A2 obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 t5 H+ E+ M- U9 f" S
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 R0 S; k7 S* a$ a4 y7 Wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ Z+ i/ X( S; Q, w% A: R6 H% d
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ |" L. j. P: k( h We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
