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: n% F+ N) Z' k" F# Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 I* ]6 r% j6 w/ D- w2 N
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,8 F' q" Y; q0 n0 i0 _' `& J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. P- y2 U: m \! j- P- V$ w3 \/ f
answers to our pointed questions.* u/ I* v4 }2 |1 M1 \4 X$ d, J
; U: L, `. R8 Z! @/ Q" @9 QThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* _2 d. a0 C% C# g( a
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! `( F4 r5 R3 R6 a+ Yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 Q5 |' k, P( i! J5 Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 }* a/ J: F3 L3 I2 Kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. s- h2 z% K" Z# d" D; Smedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ Y( q( k# j, e; n! q5 r0 J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ ^$ Q( ^) o: I& ]6 K: ?2 lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
; U. h% l" `# a4 v% c2 Yassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 ~ }1 C: M) S# H5 {7 _
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 o) ~$ q z' }# v: ?2 d% D
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 p. }# {- ^! ?/ G' Vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- p, { M1 E0 b- c9 n9 R
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& m/ `% w& v, N3 zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 X( I2 J+ Y) W2 I+ c, a4 M
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 h) [1 ?) Q. ~3 z, ^ h1 a
# Q6 ^* d2 {3 J, ?
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% d$ P& V- X3 X2 Q! a' n ?
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% o* o7 Q M) m! n! t" O
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
q2 B8 u# \% M$ c* ~( Dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 Z; i. `: c0 F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" q9 X u# ]$ M- ~; ^4 C7 {sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) P3 R+ [: A0 J0 Mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., A- u" [1 P7 u I9 G
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# {+ K8 Z) l: h- ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) V5 H; o$ ?1 ~" v' g* W5 pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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/ @% G# J- O& M& _There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: P9 h% F5 z# P! [" r3 Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 _8 @; u' ^$ Y2 O- q7 x ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 W0 W/ |# D- a2 ~2 J+ Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% F9 R+ m8 z1 _+ ^' Q9 [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, w) t, ` o5 e/ z. wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" g* Y E; x6 C2 q& B- jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 ^ d! Z# m* x9 iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 J+ b- Y& Q3 S) a( p$ D
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 r4 P0 @( z- Y9 K$ q( `
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' M- F+ r& K: }3 G1 }9 s
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 g, D2 [0 ]* o# j8 b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' Q; @% I& Z% m3 N0 o3 h8 ]3 l6 lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) h& D" |# j9 {/ Sare spaces./ r. u1 }: `/ G% k" F+ k4 `
% x' ?2 b- q% ?$ b% K6 L. j$ JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, @4 \7 V3 |' d$ h9 z+ ?$ L- J% s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 |) A' P( z2 r6 d. } P; e2 `. c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" c7 }& M. s7 y X y40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different b8 R# H* X0 e; y2 ~
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 d3 S5 R& a: P! A. ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% f0 C3 P0 N* \
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 f1 D$ ]% ?% ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 d$ i9 h# w9 F+ Mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& n& ]$ |6 c) z0 n' S9 H We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
