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
q5 H6 T% X/ J* }* r% s$ J! B, Lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- u. Z, o) ~5 ^% \5 o$ @9 L
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 \6 W: |& a) z1 ?% c; K/ X"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# M. B9 A+ c+ I' Banswers to our pointed questions.2 |, o# Y* q! C& G& A2 D
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 z. r' P/ f1 y/ ^* T; j+ z- y5 @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 P* u. k6 }2 F1 _
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) g' N: R; Q! j( T2 R# Xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 e, E/ g3 X' yto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
* }3 b* A6 {: H% p# Tmedical schools." S9 O7 d! `8 Y2 b" X* J5 i4 r
. [, R5 H/ W1 Y& JEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 `. l l! W) ~- u" s. {* L. S$ `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 N, { D e' g
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ ~/ |& X2 c+ B8 o/ ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ [& e; j3 y* x4 R9 W. Vis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
& M) { V2 D- L6 x" u3 t; bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 w3 Q! S: q6 F, B/ Xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' f2 M: k! @ z) c7 umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 j4 V' D& @+ w+ }7 h, O0 ^* A. Xshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ m' {3 I! ^2 b9 a% m3 Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 I" ^+ i; F0 p, sThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* S' ~8 k: y, y- T3 {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! \3 J0 b: Q) H. H8 `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ {+ }) S$ X8 i3 p8 Q. U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( y! p7 W7 C3 o7 [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# ?7 o/ `8 t" M. Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 G; l( N! a. I+ ^" X+ Adivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.2 } O K7 i5 x E6 ]5 B
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 A r; H4 J8 V2 m- G
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 t4 C! w7 ]! y0 b5 q
charge the fee defined by the state.9 |- w8 ?: T' Z" Z; p- C
8 ~& c0 f8 |$ P* ^! RThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: i' e, U" _% {' Y
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 N8 Z' H: M0 I t9 [0 z/ h4 x: A- Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
$ P/ ?' d% O$ v! Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
U& N: E& h0 H- T x( qseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
5 P4 T+ A0 o) q: e, d& L" {6 cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& B7 J. z& K) U5 z) [schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 g* ^- }4 b: x( ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
$ I+ A) M1 n" c3 S+ u+ {trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) E- c( g1 l: w
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
1 l* z; u. f& l; O/ upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' a8 k2 a/ c- r* p$ @2 x( N
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) H* r1 W2 i; h" Z+ F& T% Nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& t$ [1 d9 g" E: z
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 [. i" [; ]6 p: ?& g# d0 Eto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ \6 n& G1 I+ m9 g0 u. _
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 N3 @; F/ k, w! e2 s! L
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 N6 L0 A* h3 M# o# l( U0 i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 T3 C; E6 [# lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
0 U: }7 N3 l* N znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of% y, K- C3 s. w% q% c
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( l, z) W' {' f6 n2 E8 @ N: H }2 J; b
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% t6 O7 F$ W2 |+ Z0 W" ~ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
