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% W7 Y2 {. c* M' h; V# c
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" q8 \% j3 G, d1 r3 w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
W* z7 V4 f, ]! a9 g# V. x! l"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% Z: y0 x! z% c5 e. n: R3 Q, E9 zanswers to our pointed questions.
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2 D6 ^/ H7 R3 mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 X G8 y% k! Z8 ]45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% |* h$ U- J5 S2 Gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
c/ Q( d: z. S! G, R' j9 k# Pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; D2 S# ^2 L+ {+ C' c# p4 y, Y6 {! D% ~0 Z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" S/ o4 W6 Q( J& Bmedical schools.6 G8 U4 p' S- n/ f/ a! h
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- P: O& V4 G6 x' X! ]government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 W( [ ^0 E3 w4 z0 f! O
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; X4 O5 `2 Y; A- `: ^) F9 K( b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 e; V' M9 U: {0 p. o7 r Z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. s& A% L' m n/ d7 B4 E
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 K( i3 i1 ^0 c- _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( A8 }- V+ T+ K+ m9 v# ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
P# M5 ?: M1 }* B, cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 Y( A3 C. s% U+ U: q2 T* D, ]" Xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 ?4 Y, s7 u7 c0 t
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" r% y- ~/ ^ x' j9 F& E# @
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* M3 q* z! \ `( Z, t0 S# z3 r
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) C$ y; w6 G. P( a9 k* Shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 @- o, g6 j: M$ j4 sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 o, u9 N1 N' k5 k" x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ l! S1 y! d" k( j( I/ p
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. t {0 o! ?2 B. h; M9 k
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; v+ H1 I0 H9 W1 {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; }3 e1 K* O& W7 Zcharge the fee defined by the state.; p! w. t' o& F# q b% c5 I, G0 q
- g% v* l, A" D- O' F |8 s [( OThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" N. Q+ K# m" aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' t9 p% `( ~/ n3 a6 U
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! }( o3 _; O% A0 ]( Ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: U" E5 H1 V3 ?$ T/ Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 ]3 X( M u, \( [working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, `! c/ K% p4 \$ ` h1 Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 f6 t! D, A1 p( A9 Z" R+ [1 syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 l# [! Y) @ M4 Q& s* b& x3 R
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ S- F, B+ `$ ~$ d; ]
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 Y# ~- a( ~1 I5 ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 k E1 u5 p) D2 a5 D
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 V5 v+ l& {: z( ]4 z' ~- P2 [
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 w" T% p! C# P/ \3 e/ Kare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 O7 u2 T# z' r4 M5 j9 l3 m7 f
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ R% H) j8 \. W& b
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ ]% n" }2 e( A% w C
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ L0 a, {0 V( g: t# x- E# X+ {
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 f2 G0 c2 L# N- x, ?best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& |7 j4 N% H' Z6 }& b& A1 `9 Y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: K5 h3 O; r0 A S: E/ w, O* e' J
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# ^) o$ n3 e& r
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! J& r% p( S: Y" P. y We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
