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
& j8 L8 Y7 Y5 T0 Ustandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 Z% y) ?. @- ]$ w; ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 c$ X) n |# d& y1 |4 M) j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 P d1 K3 T4 v5 ^' p
answers to our pointed questions.8 F/ n$ l |$ b! [) k2 K
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 a7 R7 d- Y. c& H4 U( {45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 r; c' {6 m+ G. s' A) ^& U
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" A) E/ k: y! f6 i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' h7 c7 n9 J2 Y% q+ P8 Gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 j/ r d5 X l9 B4 o. B: K; M1 b4 e
medical schools.! k# l# ]6 K3 ?! s3 y0 \) l7 f
: O1 w, @; }1 @& t o/ {7 W$ ?Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 f" I& I: U" b- l, o, ~) I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& z) \+ p1 b1 \0 j. I7 X
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' x, U+ u: W8 Dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 q8 S: s* N, _% D
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to: I) c; r. g8 J& T; j. {4 \. z4 \
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ K! ^& X$ G, Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: V5 }$ |' J! G! K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ V1 [3 P3 I! R8 I
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 q ~; N$ h+ n& I6 G! {
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* @6 v$ E6 D5 v- R* b' H# j
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; W* M9 O8 l! y0 B6 A& y8 A
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 T! i! D% ~! D! ^ N3 u+ psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 |: l/ P3 ]* v7 |& T- x" z. L! H
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good% Q( N$ q' g/ R9 O3 T. e/ d' Y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; z2 L& g. v' T! Ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 X; b. E6 g- b- [: K0 w$ I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 b5 l) \9 }: b7 }5 Q( v2 O6 CDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When$ l) l' x1 U+ @( z( E
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ ~1 k5 \* y5 L& d! X) Jcharge the fee defined by the state.( L3 L% }6 @% X( c: W& U* p
& w( T$ X Y- R- Y% GThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 a2 P& W& f! \4 G7 q% M; n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: M' [6 o8 |2 Z4 c5 o2 G
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 T3 D) h& s5 }1 btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ d9 X, ?- R2 [8 _* Fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! l X5 m. j" |5 z5 H' S1 [* Z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 K, y5 e( b; ]8 [; O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- \" E, v9 Q/ Q* i( C4 x; r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 F" l% w& K5 {& m8 i- ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# w) M5 o A$ i3 d8 D
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
?; o: r' |& Gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 y# [; ^# t- j! x- S- Hto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 [+ \, \' o! V9 c8 ?buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) \3 n* C( c$ v& O+ G& Fare spaces.
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0 R0 A0 L; }: gThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ S* b' w. I, K$ t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they `" L- L- \# j3 \; t: W. b5 B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ t& z0 [* ]8 l2 y! D40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different D& z7 H1 O3 w: j
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 C `8 f0 }7 f3 l7 E( C3 ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. j! U6 d" e! \( {/ p6 u- Gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% m8 _* }. U- t# @9 f& ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& Q- e! d' o* ?) ]. c1 b+ \5 g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& Q1 ?& H0 Z! P" p* g We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
