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
" D h$ h* N" {' `6 h8 nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ w0 |& z6 k1 L1 [3 N
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 k6 K9 U/ ~, h1 H- X
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give- E; W6 h @8 K0 u
answers to our pointed questions.( h& L2 f' A% r/ w" P/ {; R, b7 ~
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ p3 n$ S7 n& k5 p a45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# W! s7 A' u1 g, W: O* m; d9 m# @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# m2 n( D* u) Q# f3 J
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" Q5 O0 Y/ A8 Q. W. }
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. e; T& ~' E$ `5 |. B( \
medical schools.( R7 H+ f' W/ G% R4 E3 ?
+ C/ V7 B8 n% v# Y& f! F4 N0 [Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 a6 J9 w$ g4 @: m3 d
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ n. M$ I7 A |/ |1 F, V% t0 w5 Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- Z- N8 Z7 P7 Q# F, aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 a) \; y! v5 z) O: f# \is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 ~" l* W! f, \over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' ] ~: G% H" o: i8 g. U4 y4 d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and* _ }; Y3 I3 b* y c0 c+ K* t
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
9 n T( o- q2 K# A3 Ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ v: ~6 {% E5 m5 a: B# T8 @sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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K0 J7 i" z" z0 ^6 \+ AThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no c, h, j% l( R0 o# u4 v2 q; M0 ^
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 t/ R- z1 H% U3 | D1 O# Z2 W: g
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. Y) {' h8 \# J4 O G, c
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ g( ~) ?0 F/ G' l/ J' _thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ T) ^! Y. G/ [4 W% _; u8 tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: N* @6 [# b& g/ X
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% s- E& |2 L4 ^5 A8 {
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) \ |; s& [) O2 z# V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: a5 K4 g- Z! W4 a; }" d* s: n0 `1 }
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 A3 ~& Q5 w' V
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 w o: L( a/ I& t- E' S/ mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. x! p3 D% [% b' b: i
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 ]3 |0 ~/ l$ ^& d7 J& Z# f$ d' vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 ]8 |9 K* P. @' x5 |- D. m
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on w; n( q# i3 i* O) T! ^' z
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
]( U: ]) L: r5 d6 k, _5 }you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 s$ k1 c1 x/ h7 L0 |' s
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ Z" Y- ?" K0 \. m" B+ y3 @
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, l2 ~" `# v+ T
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
9 H$ R& S3 @, q- E. s% s5 Vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 ^# g* U/ E' a( a% U
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
w' q' O: v0 x' b. U: _3 Ware spaces.( N7 j& s4 Y. q% B- q1 ?5 C
2 `( F N1 f S# Z' dThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: N7 T# X+ k1 P# tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* G# o% N" G) z I& R* m
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" v2 b/ _% b# S40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: |* w4 h' B. Z9 _4 n) Bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- y! t" p5 Q2 {3 E1 I, ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 Y- @+ Y k1 N: {+ W6 onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 l0 u! @! h: [( n! \( E
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) c/ X+ |9 d. V3 F+ [) s) }is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. n5 m6 @2 X1 O( `$ O- V3 }
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
