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
- u2 S1 u4 s: P& b7 J" D- C. ~standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 R( s1 G9 A1 Q( C/ D. p
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 R; A t! r, X- |' ^* f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, r& y* e3 L3 ^
answers to our pointed questions.
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! y+ r9 k' V! T+ lThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,! ^* V2 A3 i. R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* {8 ? ?2 [6 n. H/ ]+ i \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. U( M! d! h$ C& }( k w) }' ffree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) c7 W8 r2 g) W" Y6 vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 b( O9 f8 e7 _# l$ r# \medical schools.& S( ~: L# ]2 x! T5 G! V" a
' V9 ]: d9 C5 d0 rEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& Z" O# E/ @- d* S: O& s" |) Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' f$ z3 O9 x0 c& g# r) f4 t& a
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% L4 J8 r$ a1 C# c1 S
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; y: }+ Z; e4 `4 S) I0 n3 I8 C! N* Dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 d: g! V3 h4 i" E6 Dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There r4 L9 g5 }4 X9 T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, q' u: f: y, E) [: Z% k# P* qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 T3 m' U5 ^; ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ w. B; u" W) M) }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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8 a0 j0 c& ^/ f# sThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
2 C# F% |' j4 z7 A0 [/ C$ V6 Tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
" ~; S) r# T3 D8 |! {supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) c g9 P7 C6 B0 T/ J( q
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 n: b) B2 q; V" V! C! k
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) N. E, z1 ^5 S: a- D2 p9 v3 X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ q1 g5 T' k E8 _
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' t% ]" W, X% K; f% N; k- YDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When5 [+ D7 L- g' l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) i" f: r8 w+ p0 l8 F
charge the fee defined by the state.
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% \$ r- A H- {+ O6 }: H+ \0 ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
~6 O1 P8 J% L/ Ion), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ t2 k5 G$ } p# p( e- K7 o8 E
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% S z; J6 I( w1 Q6 mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) _" h& P; C. }
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) ~2 _- y5 ~* wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( I. ?# w+ {$ K7 C5 C
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% Y% ~" V+ Q* J" M, c9 h( D
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
N4 m; ]; T& \+ K1 n [1 A3 x( n5 Wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 M1 L1 b3 R- e8 p6 C( T( h) lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* d' Z! g4 |3 z8 d) _) Kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" h# v$ o. E! U( @+ q& b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% m9 x6 V+ V! n/ w% f3 v
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* A2 i- l. c) o$ Q5 H- b) A+ k5 ]
are spaces.- j% L0 s9 R2 L3 d( [, I4 p8 t
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: m* |% Z q# d9 _
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 `) x7 L% ^2 b- ^5 X& r
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; `8 K% o5 x# p5 w* c: [: x40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, F0 A1 f2 q9 n9 c3 Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' ?9 t& O! l* q7 @$ G% Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 G& n. ]% m1 X( b3 B
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 X7 T6 a* F9 ` g5 |
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 \, X) [* @. v- C: P. u2 L8 {- Eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' N, p, Q! I6 K6 q' y9 b6 _
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
