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& n9 E$ X' f9 f# u0 m" W9 [$ W
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ W) G6 Q; o4 g
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," o* h/ Z$ W" k- A1 `! d
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 V# k2 X( Z m3 O' D! {answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ c7 l& F. R2 R2 ^; B45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) k( Q' I% m. y/ Y: E1 wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 m! ^( P4 C7 f. N6 L0 ~8 ufree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams8 @% U, v* \, X* E4 N* e
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" t, c/ F1 s* Y# d4 O2 R$ f imedical schools.0 t6 F, N, @1 k7 I
5 Y! I" l# Y* q7 H( MEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, Z' X9 T5 h3 Z; O$ wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% E$ d. l, e# | @to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 t2 p; |9 y/ B/ s
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 a' R2 |. @$ M" m, x) E% dis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; k+ N4 H3 o, j8 A, S! [# X8 Rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# n( G/ ?2 ~) \9 E$ A. u; s) Aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 B3 L1 z7 ?5 ]% ?! Kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* z, u) U; G# E* y4 Q) i% Q$ ?shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 I2 A% \ l7 v/ _0 Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 C' J7 |4 m6 D, K$ R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 H$ D1 |: J9 m" A, q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 }+ w9 b8 [: z& X
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- {: k! C0 M# {2 \4 k6 k9 [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
* d2 p! ^' h# e- z& g5 G' C0 Z$ Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 c9 s' i4 B/ q- n/ d7 Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 F6 B% ^* p: v+ X" i' b5 }& |6 B
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 d$ n* ^, s: q6 ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 _' W7 q8 u# b$ Ycharge the fee defined by the state.& p3 `6 B, U- F6 h- U I
2 S' E3 I1 Q% ^: j* O* L' RThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 l. m* N. k1 w2 e( c2 Zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; z, d5 H ^6 S3 y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* [5 R9 s, q/ W0 S6 L$ q, E
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# a% C! d- S" ]# J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 v1 K4 s. a! m: r* W* l
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, Q0 p: _, [; s5 e# k% ~# t( q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: j+ m1 r2 |) m: s. x% g$ |9 z6 z+ Ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" D3 Q+ _# q- j# C) Q) }& ~
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* J; w1 l* M% y( o' I# Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 A1 |! b6 D: t8 ?0 c+ t! Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 c V# z H& Kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 f, x- y7 s4 z, s% |# Sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ J. D6 [ W2 V# l& q6 Y4 V% Qare spaces.4 s- o* L9 Z& ?9 j" `- x/ {
+ |7 t7 h) R! G: }0 K4 hThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ e6 G% e- B- F4 h/ ^( t/ \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 x, T9 _) f# B/ a: Town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 M% C" W% j {* V9 a p9 ?40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 t- f' ^5 {! ?: U2 Uparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 F. l* L6 I. Y \ e( o/ ?2 [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 U$ u2 D [/ T! p, ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% S7 \2 {: y/ M- \1 F+ Fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 g2 b2 v. q# I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 ]) _4 x/ K' d- R2 h/ }
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
