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
+ H2 I) o* K3 F( m- @6 v; i9 `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: b1 N/ _) [. W5 n
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! j- Z) W! C" E, D2 w& ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: p, v1 q4 D/ A5 m! w" @9 B! G/ k' Sanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% d( ~: ]$ j# Z3 X/ w# T" A% ?5 E45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ Z% @% Z% a. R/ q$ `! g7 Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
8 t( E& T, H8 Y( L8 zfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) _) ]; z3 I {* r, z) ` C1 ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are% n% z- b" J, x% N
medical schools.8 R9 {# K( a% U" J, k5 _
# B2 `, k, G, o1 M q" e- [+ CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 ]; G& ~, V( \& O$ M0 Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ q. @: V7 W1 L* d
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, c! P. r$ M& w9 a% d- Kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* Q2 K$ t* Q, y. E* Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. W% Q% B, T/ m- {* f3 M: i) ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There a1 \ h) K) |, V+ D5 w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( L1 R% l# f( f- s! C0 dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 E o6 q _ A% W P4 I3 C0 R% _shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 k1 ^! }6 y) _9 y3 lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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- G2 z1 G7 u f. Y' Y4 PThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( S6 Q& A" x8 M0 D2 [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and [- K+ F7 k. v/ U2 K; n
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 h: j/ V# d, Q; Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 D- W( ]& T) |) kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ m b( J% W6 V. v) `
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 b3 \0 h+ {0 Q' |7 O* @6 Q+ A2 z8 ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& Z8 z# O0 g3 n( Y& A: wDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 p i( e/ @8 {! N8 ~8 o5 Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. k8 l( g0 f- i
charge the fee defined by the state.
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* {, S2 s* t' z ?7 uThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 V5 h+ D# F% P2 e. H- M
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
9 T8 D( D2 @9 Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& }* W" Z3 n: Y* [3 O& ?' ?2 Otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, I \0 @2 k1 Z3 v2 l! h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( [( _7 G- t- _ c- D! Z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! v' ?1 p, l( A/ b3 v8 |/ G9 P
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, J1 R. W6 e# j8 S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; u6 d3 E& R* [4 E4 `9 r
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! j g. j9 x& g1 H" P* u- ~ z) h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% Q7 L4 j& D* y! a! G
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want5 A" G: E! M9 M# S
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 w3 f2 v. v% g( I1 Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: ^# C' R/ ?$ y+ ?) x% x
are spaces.' ~; K0 t2 U" d$ b8 ~) R$ j
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 R' r6 E2 z+ k: ~( w, uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; @% ?* H5 N W* X) X% L- \8 g1 b8 nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, v2 ^6 n, `$ y+ G5 x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ p1 v* g: i: Eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, B5 v9 d8 ]9 y) x( g Y7 E; P
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 z6 ]2 \6 Q; \' c; A6 Vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 M9 _1 E' J* N: [4 U( s4 p
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" t! A) P/ n! x6 G& _
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) F6 m7 H# Y: {
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
