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
, a6 `% R2 u: L: hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) u1 Z9 O: s9 B; X; T
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" C; ]* }. Q) U- f% X' I"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; T! q4 O# }5 I# x* ~( u7 h0 n h {! _
answers to our pointed questions.
, q! c0 X! c/ I% ^" N+ f) R; C1 c; e+ `1 E; j. Y( S
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 o6 N' k* A( l( c. s1 L! z, F0 W45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 X1 Z, C' M3 O) }+ I* _out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; w( U& Y, X0 o+ B. S9 f" @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% g/ n( M* ^; b. o9 Pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% |& o/ M: J1 }+ X
medical schools.9 ^) R+ j$ |' i2 D
# a* T) {; l4 Z. v, jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ ]. {8 Z0 b9 Y O+ g. Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- B$ b9 c3 ?1 s; c. m E/ hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) n% W2 T- g M( G! Sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 W, ? U8 A8 s2 Dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% G4 d& x* y. l" p- C
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& m0 ~* r2 A0 E8 |4 m
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and% S1 l, @& F6 B2 ]) J
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& s c/ x9 v5 x; F% S& q# ]0 Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 O2 s: v4 h. t+ }; ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. T$ m; C! i& i1 S) [# y
: Q. o7 J& w! D5 d- XThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- a* u8 P* q# H
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. u+ r; A7 q" J" ~supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( p, K+ H" U9 b! e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 m; l i) k9 \, S* d
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. u0 |* m" C4 Q4 J& D4 Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 Y1 ]6 ?$ {. ^" T. G
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. C) Q3 {8 h" e P& R" t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! \% [3 Q) Q% z3 y/ O( ?9 }, o$ h0 g
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 Q" j* v; R8 `+ {$ g R, h
charge the fee defined by the state.; }2 f$ @& ~: @
/ e& i$ |! h$ O- F- yThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 W* a% u2 T( o6 w1 ?. ]2 p
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* L X! `0 U5 v) v( Y9 | n
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- Y7 ?8 O6 q; f4 n( C" M9 [& H
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, p1 W; d, ~, g- t- }% v$ L0 x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 s0 J3 W: r {: n8 ~' l* H
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' u, K; y4 ?; ^ A, i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, X2 O; E% Y3 w$ @; tyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 W( D7 N6 }, ^0 v5 `, N
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. j. f0 E! e, w4 x! Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' k7 M! ^: W9 c; u7 jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. |5 r: d$ ~. c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 S H r) v: d/ s* N
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ ]) m# @, ]5 M6 gare spaces.
# Y8 d& L8 q* O7 S7 ^1 B4 O2 |! {
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" V# }3 }1 q; Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ n6 g# A8 v' G8 m7 e, b
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- V' P- M4 ~, k5 d1 s u40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 N: f$ @; X8 ?: F6 Z/ u% h, F3 P3 E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# _0 |6 e# M& R$ \" l+ p* {, C3 kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ [6 ?" b+ \% A: ^nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 c, l; M" L* Q& x% _, J% O! O8 pcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) Z u' K0 X) {7 X2 P3 g6 K! g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ _# p$ y C9 q0 d7 J
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
