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* ?; ?1 j" f; Q: b9 o4 s2 b
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* w! G7 E- x, t* ]3 bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' }0 p* S+ C- P7 V! H9 J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, e/ u1 u2 W1 T% d0 p$ }1 manswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% H e6 w3 T9 x: _2 x5 D) M3 [" o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
k# b {" a; c. a4 iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) a% E/ L- _/ a+ L8 ? Zfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( R9 q; i! e. G- y7 {( @2 _" [% g0 Nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 a* @! |% \ e2 M Z5 }
medical schools.3 O) k1 P) ?' u( @9 V
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ }: X: L3 \& q" h, \! D: g. \) L
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: z9 R1 D! g9 p- yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ @( {4 D( r. P" x
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- ~( s8 l3 b" o, `0 e
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: h1 j1 V% W' z1 \. m5 O
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" T+ _$ w3 a: X! K. F+ k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 a: A# ]; M% Q% d7 {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& w% F0 Z! Z5 Q$ j; q& e; pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* w D! O; z& \; w1 G; h- ]sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! ]7 q* ]1 u4 s, [* Y
7 ~) r& W! w+ ~" KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 u- [; Q/ ?9 g# E" q7 @" ~3 U
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 X1 `3 N! L/ ~8 P* o) ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 ]& x% i1 T) ^, b+ b8 I7 rhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 |0 K) z$ l+ X/ w( Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ Q9 R5 J( i9 i; f& X7 l. T* h c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- Q0 K+ V( k0 {7 F% `divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 e1 a5 c/ p* Q9 N5 Q3 ~# lDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: w: r/ A& b# V- T
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 y- x" I: H" X8 r7 W3 q
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ k8 e: z- A, F% ]$ q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 R0 A1 _+ A$ [6 x( `of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big, e: o5 v! p6 w
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: m7 K( g7 x7 K- X1 O/ S
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' ^ h. M, l* p0 F! ]
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
0 w+ B, r& t& u6 Eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ c& q7 \3 h% i- O% z0 c1 @you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ _5 i' y& I. Z8 }
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ M3 I) Q! B* B& d4 B6 l3 Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- l- \- r ?1 H/ x+ f' Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 j( ^" N) M9 z7 [3 a8 B8 o( d
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 P t$ t4 m5 w9 ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( X4 K! a' f6 {* U: B* ]( j1 Vare spaces.; i% Q# H! \2 _) u5 @( T. y8 Q
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 s; M: n& T/ r4 @: t. ^9 P+ Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, Q) n; K$ k$ I# Y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 n" i" w! P$ U8 o: w- e) a40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' i( O* R+ M% B* ~: [% Yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 U* X, \ o, i/ tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few2 Q- s0 \9 a- |* S
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 C. k- d: _4 Qcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ J& A+ A3 i- ^/ S: H9 h# H! n* wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 N6 l8 S0 s7 j6 R6 v B8 b
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
