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' V; z, K1 a; `2 j
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
: |$ @1 ?+ Y" P: N* r2 ?# Yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 K. ^& X0 J' S( x4 B/ @"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& x6 u" T2 @* f1 n& B! A
answers to our pointed questions.
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+ n1 e3 v3 m& d* {; F4 wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* t8 U5 u/ V2 [5 l- _- v" ^" M# f& J45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& G0 A+ E) @) d) ^* v* d
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. H. t: Z& ` P1 L1 g6 q1 s5 b8 s
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! ?( @1 T3 b) }5 U8 \1 Uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 b+ x! t7 I8 K7 t( X2 ?' c4 P4 r
medical schools.0 z) Z- V" F& P P
" i, l- D" N7 P2 P1 GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ V8 y3 z2 M5 O9 f
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 }* M% d5 S0 _to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 t" \- h$ p5 ?% R: s: j
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% h3 O) Z6 h! Z$ P4 X3 Vis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& V, S, J9 V! v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# u. D" p4 M1 @! C0 Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* n, c: Y$ a! j) N x5 o
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ \% s+ ~* f2 Y z& Q- s8 cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some' u0 K f* c' V. o
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% O. F2 s& s- h9 ~( h: I0 Q; i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and+ q6 R* O+ A# k3 o8 T
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 X; X% q+ f, _3 H/ r& i
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' _( m. G8 p- O3 R) R4 v; v! v; |* ^( ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 O0 J$ h& A* Q0 B( ]
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. U) h! m' X& p) C9 v3 V
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 y# T6 y6 b8 ?4 {5 t8 gDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- S* h/ x4 G, g2 h6 R( na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- A6 a5 k$ F9 |" e- ~& ?# r2 E
charge the fee defined by the state." M }- ~0 }& E; ^, q: d! G
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 y$ c0 H' o2 I0 ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' R9 Q$ g' w5 ?7 Q4 D$ U) @
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. B4 G8 \# W. L5 w2 itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! \! h- i" [) x: V3 P0 f0 M
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; S( u, P1 U3 Cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! u! N8 A$ Q4 ^' }% F7 h: @! @schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; h6 k& s7 `2 ?, Tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 Z5 I- u* |6 w. Q. b% m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, f) h' ^/ L) k6 @+ j( M4 G9 |hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
1 N, Y/ s1 z2 F! f2 j4 P( Apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 e: `* Q8 V& r; q4 r% Eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- |' b s1 \5 q* C
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 }2 k+ b/ Z7 q: m8 Kare spaces.0 m8 {& u: X6 X2 h1 ?$ `
5 a* L8 Z! ~5 O$ FThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 ^ w2 G: u2 n0 Q0 {to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' `' Y2 J) @4 a# \& z* xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% T) g$ @- w2 p0 h) k7 i6 h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 G' u7 N3 s& I( V3 zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ {$ N% N* f: |8 P. H/ bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 H$ V4 V' J/ T# d6 Inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 X1 G5 }3 x4 H& ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; G# ], i0 x7 M' U4 A
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: ]/ s# s% R1 s% q' Y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
