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* g, c4 Q; C6 D; O a& o7 b, d
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went. W1 r. u3 s0 A! D/ F+ C
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- [0 \6 C- t9 Q* d& c
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 ]3 l5 @( L: |" D7 D' L' q
answers to our pointed questions.) {% J6 k; d: {4 t
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 V% Q5 X3 U) U# r2 Y4 l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand j% c: } F5 i9 K
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 A2 p9 }! q9 Q5 w. j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 F1 k6 T, @6 P
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
4 n: c8 x3 h" g1 ?% w; @9 k# I+ W( |+ Xmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 E) g$ |$ W( h4 C: y5 j* |, A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' t" K1 g' ]; E2 Q' f sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 m0 B5 b$ W/ ]. o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ p. q j- \3 P8 M: T% C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ a1 q$ w. i6 W, a T, C6 r' X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: \* J' F$ C5 ?8 V) N, ~seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 M K4 |5 J) @; J0 pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 P3 c4 T& p. V% N5 `shortage which the government is addressing by converting some* W1 y h# i! K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 s, f9 R1 ~& |! ]
! ^- A* _/ y5 }" `& ]+ j2 J, HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: Z+ E9 C# p1 z# j3 Lprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! \* J5 e; w6 z n( b; I" R: A Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 L3 \+ E3 ^# y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' R/ h& w. s& v8 g1 T, l2 t6 p/ xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 F, u: E* T" u" g7 isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
: N& ]5 R5 f! e8 H( y7 Adivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" v# |' I, ~2 \ e2 j* qDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, j7 @% Q9 Y! z5 i3 V7 V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 d5 `0 ^4 e( l! u7 M) D, O
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get j! k' G) y1 ?1 H
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! T: U/ }% t& Tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ i5 z1 B8 U5 D8 |+ l" x* N
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( G; d/ X# ]/ d7 G# `! I
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 }* j, w7 Q) E: D. i" g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ X) Y* R6 M) |% D; R, N6 _- @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% B; V: D% b6 y W9 z9 @! ] G5 d' b3 Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! j- I) Q/ C" ^" Y' O& [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# ? j1 x- y w3 |- v/ r
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' z( y7 m, h. C" H3 ~8 G) L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& q0 l& B" O1 E$ Oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 b0 s f6 E$ w1 h( h
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& I8 N& F1 y" ?- e
are spaces.
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! }1 R+ ^' |3 F2 vThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" p8 ~% E, ?- ]: ~1 g% kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 j! t, K3 h& _5 Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ Y$ n0 l5 t% t9 a" ^
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% r* P. f+ }% d: f0 R
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 S5 w# I8 \6 h Z, S% t
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* U/ M. Q2 ?3 G& u" J+ e* V" o+ w2 h
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# }# g Y& X2 u# _0 w6 \car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* M ], \ i; d+ U* f
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& h X# ^4 o3 Y! }4 I
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
