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& B p; s- `" j0 `) I( L
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 H' s5 H; D/ V+ son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 S5 s. U3 t% \, }7 V( Q: P
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 L' A1 t" w. z+ B F' @7 @$ ]) N7 j" n
answers to our pointed questions.# G) G( R2 R" l2 P3 Q5 x7 U
* ~6 g) F. r" r! R; B2 s$ xThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: t; A0 W- \; t/ i$ F0 J. h45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 I" u9 z2 s. R+ z7 H hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* |: |( M- ^. ` w6 `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' D2 h* m, H9 _7 O( C' Z; ^
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
1 E3 o/ E% X1 ?9 pmedical schools.
6 A) \% H7 [( |( d& V& p+ N' Y% ~5 O1 K. L% {5 D& C$ ^
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: e# `3 b( \3 |0 f* B9 Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& ?* D- C0 Y1 pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 w9 g5 M6 h' R5 x4 Z4 }3 xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 K/ d/ V+ x& P: n2 [3 \ H
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ |- I4 w' G1 H3 [- o8 v. z$ @( eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 I3 f( A+ g' h' z1 |5 w% K4 @; O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 s2 B$ a# T: L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ r1 X, d9 y/ g3 p# R3 r! Jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 N8 l$ T9 Z( I- B( V% o3 rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
& g$ S- c2 b7 y: J/ g# x7 J( T U
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 s8 ~/ g# @* g; |6 a
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: M2 C+ {! p- @# f/ Y6 S3 m$ r; w; M
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& |5 o/ l( [# B8 T# |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) b( y/ p+ \2 }2 G0 pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ n: L% X( f; H' U2 J! lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 F& G9 y' _' c. y: Cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 Z8 s# V* j% R6 U/ }. P: m
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& h4 X, y6 n5 |' e# E, D' w+ Y+ D! Ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ N- [: {, O \& n- Q% e) l
charge the fee defined by the state.
4 z1 w- I: B! Z' F- m. `0 L9 W
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 m+ C8 z& [ s7 n) E7 Zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. }2 _6 }, \, Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 a% H- i" I$ @6 }0 f" y! f9 rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( l h+ {3 V/ K& p% J2 {6 C8 D
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 b( s# `1 F& r6 ]* L; L6 |: sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 e% C9 `$ A* ^) a- o+ e/ p* @( c
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 a7 M/ ]9 E- r. ~- n+ s
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! ~. R+ V6 R9 B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 k' Z, e! J7 i( J# v% phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 s0 ^1 D( _5 I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 T/ c9 f5 O+ E- M2 d# v
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ F% b& Q- s3 q) Sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: n6 T& {, @. O7 u# U1 H/ n! V
are spaces.
9 b t/ H, l; A8 H6 q6 x/ N% a. D0 s, W
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 Q9 a J5 v* y, ?# t
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they l# W1 m2 r" Q# K+ z2 m0 c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ W3 p2 U5 L9 Q0 ~% G
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' f) |& K8 b; t/ T5 p
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- }+ a& M% K; g% G/ C3 Zbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few g: X8 T. Z# J) W4 p N6 ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( B- q& ?! J* J: v6 B* Z1 P
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; f0 l8 v/ M# O- Sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' Z+ a& U, X2 t* l2 @ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
