我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 `7 r- F5 z3 M
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went. o' M8 a/ {( W2 a& a$ [
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! d3 t3 I( L4 O, H6 g% ]"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! N/ s$ x( J- M4 k9 l/ _/ b1 hanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 l, K; G9 ?1 P& Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 [3 {+ x- } h7 f: s/ vout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 \) n# m6 w7 O* C, kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 U# }: `7 l* x* l) W) @+ @to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. R- n" C4 ], E( F' kmedical schools.6 V1 R% c8 Y- v3 t: a( N
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" F) b, i& m1 f3 A$ Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 l3 u+ D% p, ^7 K3 Dto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' T7 O0 I: s% f d4 a0 qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ a" U( k" o: G: o
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 {* x5 O. s6 t/ d' B7 H# ^9 }; K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There: u' P) B/ a" C) [2 T0 r2 H
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 n# l O) |; l( D, Y9 c7 ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 p' y9 H) {' u4 K" n4 b2 M( D# D) r
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# l: `1 M0 x5 k! }7 W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ O! ~; d- F" |( I) ~6 g
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 q& l: y' T1 R3 E6 a
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* ~, ?8 {2 X. p1 R' } R: z: wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" i y R3 P: D/ g
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 |1 I6 F# s" n' v- i6 c7 ~' [5 Jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& |* s# v* k8 h8 msitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' j9 k/ H* N* V v9 gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 u2 O: y A9 t/ I) t- UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 R: u: h5 o5 Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- \5 K1 L; n7 G5 F, h9 s( E
charge the fee defined by the state.8 E4 _8 t. d% l2 w
3 H6 a( a- m+ O) tThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 l9 ?/ d" w. Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ L: y0 B* ~, z2 r) b, ^4 c
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 a! A6 a) n) @% Y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
3 P! o3 f8 {4 v" h( Mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" @& B- e1 G, S& a$ U- uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 x9 |* M/ q9 D. t7 c6 @9 r
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 u/ _0 c% X/ \9 R2 d# M- a4 \) t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 e8 e* p! R) y. i8 n, d! u3 _( H: Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; j* P9 T" S( Z1 C d3 N
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 p9 A& C- u% {, f* c2 z, k, E+ ^: L2 Jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: [- w8 ]$ g( b* H6 E7 Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. y3 R7 s. K: [7 Z' j3 e: T) K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there3 | P, R' `, d, G3 `
are spaces.
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$ A* [0 @9 a2 f3 |; `6 b8 TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' W& O6 w$ `" T5 D Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: v) x9 q: `- M7 Y, D: fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ z# a S9 P H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! l7 W2 a9 ?/ D7 f( q9 `
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ g" C, ?$ W |5 l- V5 Z0 m
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% R3 O) q G9 w3 b2 z3 Hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
- A+ @9 _' v; }: ?4 s5 ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" x4 J3 t5 f/ ?9 u7 U: c$ @is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 w4 u8 D, d2 C2 x8 s& ^+ G7 P. B( f We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
