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
$ p h8 U8 z2 F# r p$ j1 lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 ?# S$ |3 @- T- E) }* Y' \
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 `+ P: s! v0 I. Z/ |2 l3 ~. X9 Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; L+ v3 k+ _. K/ e. y( ]: panswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ i5 F4 y0 K Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, r+ S$ d J2 C0 Z x9 B( V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 k4 J' v* y5 J% ^6 B$ \' ?8 s
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
{% c8 k9 D, j( x, `$ L: j, v Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& S8 S5 x) C5 {6 u! c3 K3 r/ t
medical schools., d# e0 v7 L* R# y4 [0 H, N, V
/ R6 g* Z' ? b# S2 p$ ^, \Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* ~7 t; B2 d3 V" b( \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& D m: {9 g7 T2 R, E. ~ A3 Cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ P) [0 X4 ^0 j5 g5 g4 G" z+ u' B
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 J3 {4 W! F4 K! ^5 Xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 `2 R$ S5 J+ n% E4 I" Gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, \1 Y5 ^- h1 c. wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! Y. |; |; s8 B7 k1 hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 T) r1 ^3 X% C% [- A5 L, ~' J! A
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 @* N+ l9 s" Q0 U6 X8 isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 w5 C! n* h/ n$ ?1 t* a
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 G) V$ B7 D8 b& Vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 L: ^# l/ O. D7 G
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ u$ o p7 ?# w; p/ y: \. t+ ]5 fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby& L- z* v9 [7 m7 G4 a y: E! P# ?1 y8 W+ r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 e0 |7 d+ ^! c L% a$ Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
) E: p1 W! ~6 G1 g f. {Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* d$ z& t( h a! M& W3 xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 {: U; S& L$ M/ ]% Ncharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) u* p1 {( }3 T2 q5 L/ G$ O$ _4 L
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) O/ E, b+ B, g7 d9 n
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( n6 X+ b' J& ? z7 W# o- z. l
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
3 i x1 ]2 e3 R& q- f1 `* [seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& R6 x& K f( O8 P7 \3 Lworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* `6 l( [$ g# G3 G! Pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 j( n2 j6 q7 ? q* N+ a. Hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
% p3 @; ]) f p: S9 O7 a6 `! ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
@$ x* d K& F4 ~( {" B7 |8 vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( i& E5 K9 `# `5 Speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; M4 W, z2 n! gto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ X4 t& J# M* E+ ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ _& P* b4 E% oare spaces., D! |# M; H" x. P
4 Y: J4 E$ F9 d- A; N* V* j" ]There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- l$ q7 u) j2 Y- }4 K+ R! jto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% v7 X) k; u# {' U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 A2 B' z& m" B: \; X5 u
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' d% G' s! r6 b, ~$ a
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" \- ]4 ]8 p' N& d' Ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 i+ @5 R% f# B* Y9 {) ]. S
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of. B3 _' e: j1 G# e8 t1 f( L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it0 o5 C2 D7 u* M3 [1 Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! U' Y, @. l6 Z D4 U4 b
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
