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
0 m" C' s+ L9 b, i V1 @: Qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 f: z' [5 {. p$ f# B/ Kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 a* u& I: `! j4 o( f. n0 U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 b2 n& X d# ^; v
answers to our pointed questions.
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8 Z. P: V6 r. V2 n6 k! z( qThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 c2 W6 D$ {: I5 u* s7 }4 d2 [' {9 A
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% O0 t& A/ @' Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% l K; I) F0 Q9 ^) [6 Wfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 j. I' B- C) T _3 {( ]( jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 R0 D5 q2 h- A9 e/ p7 s0 p
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 ]' k; w4 ?. ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" D4 k/ c/ t: c: H( }8 eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, c# e7 L8 E9 t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 i9 k) A% H5 E4 I3 U6 u& V8 N
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
Y9 W6 ~. q3 [) }# ]8 {' A c' rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% e: I q0 ?% @( g6 K3 [. o$ _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 u" q8 I' H& c3 N1 V) _mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk" F! V4 Y+ B4 a5 Y2 A
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 t! o. H+ n2 u
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ k. K" o3 t8 G b z
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 A/ @5 s# O# g5 F/ Y# q" Eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ z# g8 f {- S! I* F' ]1 |
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ `# t2 S/ v+ ^+ S
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good ~3 A) I2 M, O6 o) i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 `/ w! t% o, Qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 D; B, i. X5 k. N" Q) V; b5 qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 _' k- P. O. i, A7 E2 hDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! m Q+ k; h. Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 D# [% w0 F. t# x7 y
charge the fee defined by the state.
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# z( p) ~* k2 F T' S, p- k. q( rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
& c/ S. V7 M i% M, e0 {% ~ t0 @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* d# w4 G7 |! ~- L8 X8 X7 L; Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! `* Z& I) k1 _+ t, L, y0 t+ N! Ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 D1 y5 [- H0 L- @9 H- g2 ?. Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) A4 _. U0 m! u9 m
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 k8 v+ i1 t/ r7 @+ U* G# e) K7 Cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 V2 p8 C! m r( @. `9 a P! w
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" e- [# Y0 }- d% D* v6 g9 t
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% w0 x( p) T; @4 I. A4 L: Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 {% ?$ D6 q' P8 Q( ]' l N) }people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 d, n- U5 Y( t5 L4 a
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, d- F- r; i/ a7 ?! }$ R
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 x- A8 A/ p# c6 y6 N7 nare spaces.# s# G6 S. [$ E; c+ p
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 y, C/ D& i# k. @2 Zto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& W4 }+ K5 S* Y2 M" `own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 U0 y, O2 f A! I# i3 D40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% C) [- @/ M& R1 V9 S1 V4 ^3 H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% A% L8 p8 v" k- ~/ H& ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' K# ]4 k- q- v' N
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) x$ o6 K7 T6 Vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. [+ j+ d( s* y6 F: e% a6 l5 U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! K% L- \% O7 P5 K# S
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
