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
; y7 x. g y+ E' p. B" N$ zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ D4 ?; v7 }- ~% g: Y; j4 won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: g$ y9 M! x2 @* T# M: Y; Y4 {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" u, ~3 K Z$ Z
answers to our pointed questions.
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' m) w& |2 I7 K0 q& \6 s2 f9 X- }The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 H1 Q% f. s4 |# l- I
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, x! }; z; @6 C: M) K4 s" f0 z' `1 mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ F3 {: N5 _0 v$ Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ o: b _8 K/ W7 K* H% uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: V& @/ D* f4 f+ R, ymedical schools." a- \1 \& F- p3 \
+ @2 {6 l" G, [Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ u, }- Y ]/ dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 [2 \+ f* S* @: e' ?( sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 r' a( w8 X5 `assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 @, V4 I3 x' m. Y1 Y7 [5 U
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ j' a) C& h( g+ q2 j& T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# M. S' ^% h' V- d) Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' E& `5 [5 C! O/ [* G( j
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 X4 v2 D: o+ r0 g: Vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ q9 ? y8 f U* G/ N( {sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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; h) l( z7 \% E& e$ L3 ]/ A/ TThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no5 f9 i) q0 S/ ^' [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& A" z; D' I2 {' X; O1 w
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) ~1 n* H }& _$ Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& U( o- j1 i+ ^$ V$ Y2 M7 Kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' z& A# \8 n) U, D% Fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 ?+ r. D" h8 \8 |4 m( J, }$ w$ F
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 T3 U/ }6 I* P! F# A |
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! X. S8 ]+ B" z4 X& Y3 N$ `
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& z/ K) a$ o7 o$ `6 q* C
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 ~. O5 e! ~% {4 U. O& pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) q4 j9 C: D4 Gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 V* g" g% H) s/ M9 H
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
3 ?4 B6 ]" j& p4 U3 @) F5 jseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* I, o/ n. E9 }4 B! G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' g' T/ X8 L9 c0 Z: @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
5 x. u( ^; w) r4 K+ L; f5 iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. u+ p8 ^3 @" H1 j0 k' N* t
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 \ N h; N: mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) e7 T! T! \2 w+ g' Jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 M+ f5 ?3 D' p5 W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( A3 y6 Z# h9 F4 w$ ]; u
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ J4 V7 N* }% }8 P: B
are spaces.5 z0 i% M1 E/ b' g0 O
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! k# x8 E' m- l* x1 \2 Kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, y! f: e1 B) N+ G/ p0 z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ h" B% N" H4 l* n8 _3 H& Y9 j: p40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- h& T8 S2 s w: Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
; }$ z% c4 p, Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few: K! c$ k! u+ \3 d: h% `
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 T' ]/ `' z5 w6 U1 t; g& h8 xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
6 D& q# n3 i" S' qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 E+ x6 {1 R: t% J We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
