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; Z: o7 p' ?. a+ \2 I5 P0 K6 `$ f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( z. C# G$ B1 Y! c- b5 y. h/ eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' k: \: |: p/ q8 a2 u. {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: z/ F) R6 Z0 X3 G0 b1 V4 d( w: R
answers to our pointed questions.
$ G) ?8 a' h5 h( g$ I6 \0 C4 w) {5 ~( T: W
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,6 T2 x% K- v8 O5 o9 e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 z' e) Y1 J2 b7 X3 b; jout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: [( m! x, \5 [( K3 A1 ffree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, V. ]( B \2 J# T9 A7 F! k$ J* Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; \$ F) R9 S: q3 @medical schools.) h% v( z2 T# J* }7 D
) F! R9 B3 k8 Y# q# Y. CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& {% N) _$ l" R4 t$ l4 ~1 i
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; ~. j/ N- n( v T: o, X Y# C, Jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* e' u7 |: y5 K! sassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. @% B: w* p' O: Cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- }8 ~& F" a7 o. c9 \, m+ ?# s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 K* H* v8 Z8 i* G/ Z: O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) E/ h5 R5 T* ]- Y& d( I+ {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 q$ R, d! m3 M9 L5 _$ t* w9 l
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! F8 H2 K4 ~# Y. w( c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
/ ^1 ^. d$ d% o7 q( E! R
0 o! K; p% ` D4 g+ ^# n7 TThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
; D" t0 q" ]( M8 y& \) T% ^private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# P/ \) l/ ^; P1 O D) w% l, n4 ^+ h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- T: T, {2 z1 Mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 z B* a. X1 n" E* L q4 C
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ J! M2 F( R# |
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
i& k& R W. Vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- T$ B$ ?7 \! T, @" @4 G6 Y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ P, ?2 \! v$ F; Y8 u) za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 e+ Y% D& P e9 f/ g+ j& Y
charge the fee defined by the state., g. d* c U, e5 e# y4 Y3 Q
! b n+ V: }9 O) U/ n( P( K0 kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% t. x# Y6 i( f7 h, y9 F* a
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 P! e$ y& j! Y- G# x( ^of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! [+ N O1 C0 q7 X" @2 Ktruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel) r2 u K! I# H* W( m6 L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ T+ i6 j' I F$ g; V5 b7 \% Qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. ^" w* Z2 F$ g, G* y' yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 x t" ~8 y5 c: n0 |you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' V; J" {: p3 K9 ^/ H* vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" } e- A8 J% g; Q; G! q% P, thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# e! o S4 F' l/ [
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% L( V9 Y/ ?: \" y" w w3 Y, Cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 A M! c1 U* u
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ I* }, n2 ]5 P$ [9 v0 U# m* @are spaces.6 m- n$ i) k1 a0 A- h: k0 ]2 @% o
* Y( W1 N9 S0 s- ~' Q$ e, W3 D
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! _/ H5 f5 }* @- U0 Uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ a6 Z$ I2 n, y" L! w8 rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( l* c$ l1 y9 z0 R+ ~: X40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# \6 O; q0 L7 l
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 P+ _: W$ Q& X+ ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( m$ `) P) g' g0 anice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* M# M( C; u# Q2 f/ e
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 t7 ~7 H* g/ V8 \7 W8 z/ A
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.2 r# E: Q% r0 Q. A, X% G4 A- D; J
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
