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 @* k- `$ E( g, {' B* x3 E* {standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 S( [2 i" T8 i' Y8 u4 q9 H
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- W$ j5 F: z$ ]9 H1 l8 G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 z9 D' G5 h" \answers to our pointed questions.6 S$ [9 `& d5 N5 P! N4 u
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ }% v5 B. r8 [$ b9 p1 u3 ^2 G6 S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
9 R( d1 Y# ?' }: z- \- _out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. J# N- S! p# v) N% S- |+ y! {free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' r( u: f; x/ E) c ~2 ]
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" x! _( t" f; ]: A
medical schools.4 l9 J: l1 x, [- V9 i% M, @
0 l% ^3 C w- {# UEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the y: W" ]) d" ^2 ]8 l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ K- e( u6 ~) v4 F
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" |3 S! M0 d- u- V0 q Z9 ^3 Kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba3 i {& u. D8 ?% I( h
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, ]. J3 n* }; d8 q7 pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 [, R& Z9 _0 eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- C0 c7 O* m/ i. g/ h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 A# [3 F+ ?6 b u
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! i8 y0 A9 C n& g( m. j @9 q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; l4 y" t% p8 I: [" u4 _
( K+ h. V7 G- t/ `8 u; QThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
; ~% [1 u, A8 e) L* D- ]! z% _4 Vprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ u6 k4 S# A2 d, {% C" I0 h: isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; v6 d# N* J% c# K# j* H/ B
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* o2 R- ~: M1 C3 t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 A0 p' Y) z2 i3 Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 N% X6 K x% b- [. T' F/ @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: ^- S8 w3 z% Z1 N! V1 }) ZDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 J- e* v/ Y( T( B3 g" s
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% j) n1 c! C; B+ X% h4 d
charge the fee defined by the state.
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/ y" e) Q/ E7 R$ K- q. G XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 X2 @) [" z3 {6 R* U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 P4 Y& W5 N3 i: Y1 t) lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 | C9 M" I% j: F* k" H
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, a& C0 \+ y$ B. M# H
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 v4 C/ _% B) g
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 E; L; |" G! Q/ {5 u/ Hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; B* E- \2 w& T& Pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( a e2 |6 q4 K _ P; Ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ y# Y; Y4 G7 s1 ^ A9 X3 e8 v5 r: V9 s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ A; [6 d0 L( }* f6 e' c6 Dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& C t; Z: s4 G% r, y7 E* |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 r" e @. h( i4 Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 g$ I. k9 h' h. G5 aare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ S8 {9 B6 ^. P
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! Q" H! z( N$ T3 I% q
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% t8 j6 y9 x0 Y/ z& @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 y8 x8 c' T; xparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 @! W* @6 E0 z# O3 N& G& F! u2 `
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 Q) K/ {2 }6 K4 z: u Snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 g8 f& U$ I1 [: t' scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 V2 X# W, T" Q6 b
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 U" P3 r$ o$ g We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
