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
" m+ Q6 T$ o+ m/ vstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 V3 f$ n* q! m7 F' G* U$ pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ Z% h( E4 a, t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ V8 a' c6 N. H, j( a1 M1 }answers to our pointed questions.0 X1 C" U/ h: }% z9 ?9 `' F8 T# U
1 p4 ?9 [6 m$ G; G7 l" {& m9 oThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
u" J: D- w4 T) ^ T4 @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ R2 \; m) {2 K- d0 gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is s8 ]( L, A: {6 t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% [. ]8 m7 z6 s- l$ j. \
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' w) }' n" [9 ?! Z" h
medical schools.- O q0 S; k [+ f/ w
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. @! @( t3 z! ]' ]! \! [government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 }+ m2 w5 I& _* V1 eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 V2 f3 u( M8 massigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' J* c c, j4 |* M/ mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ C/ J$ x: p4 i: u' Z! t8 m# ~over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# a. S" s3 p7 Y& a
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) h( m5 z7 T* ]* u
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! [) |8 h: P( f2 K! Y! l/ e! X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 ~/ E5 Z: M/ v# } Z" |3 o# B
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* p e+ ~/ f" v$ G3 `# W* m9 q0 ^
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& p5 N; U; {7 B7 j+ a8 _! i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ k) [, @% d5 _8 K" \
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 p3 b# \9 g" ~, `( y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 T1 \4 k3 m0 o& B1 b- b& ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 ^9 R: Y- d) nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; Z2 J0 L+ K1 L- J8 n4 i* g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 v5 k8 \8 q, x- K& O7 Q4 E# [Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 t" L+ {" U$ ^6 Q+ j; {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* _; U/ L$ s4 [ C: ]2 D" h
charge the fee defined by the state.
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0 I; X e( P9 @+ D$ w7 x+ b& UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 R$ v- H D1 _; {, a7 n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& c& t6 ^' m2 j K+ H' f5 l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 }( S- E0 N4 J7 [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 V+ ] i9 Q6 U8 k
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 S& r5 G" R8 v1 b% D3 V* x8 Y9 {% p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, ]0 G% V$ T7 i! g" h
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" Y. _+ t. v+ j9 Y2 k# L$ P ^9 [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ F- E& P0 q& {1 T
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 U$ e' W; w3 s0 y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ y, }& x# Y+ r% T g* z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
. |7 P, b k; `' B+ Uto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* @! e# m* W* ~8 n4 I7 i. _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 |: c; e, @0 X. M; G9 n
are spaces.4 r) e/ m' ^ L
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; P$ g, ?/ x# a4 [$ ]to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
" M' P ?4 w6 F- Town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# W5 t) y7 G# K6 R; b
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" N# C- B, U/ w% |6 K8 bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) f0 {0 ^! d! m% V4 |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( F R2 y1 ]0 |8 ~nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" \ B) ~" c/ O
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) ]5 I$ S+ m: E( T5 _
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.; H p' s! x* M. O
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
