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
4 {4 X9 z$ L( i) ] h% fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 ^2 Q8 \, C; ^: ^, j; b; ?: c% m
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 h; Q5 G. D6 l& E1 A' v3 y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ K( g# ~# x! F' }1 J8 _answers to our pointed questions.
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5 Z4 F+ Q+ Z1 g# m; o/ q, EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' {% Z( \4 s4 C- A
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& T- _+ d) `& {) {0 P& N3 y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 o6 c5 v |* S( A
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& _4 o/ j3 M% y# w: Wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
0 M/ g6 H- e8 }7 M R; q9 J! S# ]medical schools.& z! D: q' @4 s$ Z$ r7 H
* h% B9 W A9 q7 l- {Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( Z {7 ]3 v! S
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 z& e0 W" f! y. S& \( t
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* y) q- a. l9 `# Q# v: passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 q* B2 i' I; n2 Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 ^0 p& O, ~. \4 A$ [, O% h: q2 p
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 n/ d4 R; Z4 s" E% U. v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 j) b% n w; j A- O& A o i9 o# D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; d9 r; {% @. l: `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 @/ v! M1 u; v; M# ^: A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 q, I9 i* o5 x8 f
6 g) i. H% s# _The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 a1 D% j. O. z3 A& xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" n4 j! n0 B; T2 x& H# A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 _+ P/ O) M5 ]* L- ^1 g5 f1 Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 D5 F+ k% v; g! d- A: Q- D; ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# S4 \% y( n9 M5 r* R7 fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. L! y' w! C* d; H2 x" Q0 ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 v( O+ Y# R' t" |# V
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ t0 o, n Y! T5 M' v% Ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 V L9 z% d- @8 b
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 ^% b# }& A9 X* n; D. O9 a. Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 ]0 s* h6 O4 X' c) e9 ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. a( V0 }# y, J9 ?6 K4 {. r
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: [+ f: x; m5 o6 w, W
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 p4 c5 o# \+ V0 ]
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
/ @8 q" y2 y a# O! X# zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
x. Z. u# n) e$ A- `5 S+ f0 Z3 lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. J; ^; Z* R- t& }3 H: k" @1 V& t' c" r. K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 w k2 Q+ N( }1 T
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ f$ b! D- Z. M1 V, t# bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, f5 e6 q' Q4 C4 J7 {: Nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 G% t f1 _! g9 m1 M' j: L+ d6 \! l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ m$ H" I& q* M2 t6 u. _" I
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ j' R# b {: u1 Hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! A4 z, K* \& \- L! iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ g+ c( `; c0 S/ @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# r. ^$ [' k \! [5 G$ i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the8 B% u+ R* C8 e1 J0 w% [
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 c& j$ |4 h( |0 t7 a8 anice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" n' X6 }4 L3 A
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& Z& B- s3 ]# V( b' T! f6 p0 ]is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: B( n; `4 M' }+ q& K8 R
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
