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
& Q7 ]/ q% I" u/ J) dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% j2 O7 Q( E8 l8 y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* F4 L/ O) Y' o2 N+ C' `1 }& r
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 ]$ `, n# @/ f
answers to our pointed questions.
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f: [# H# ^: u4 d) y6 vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ X8 h; j7 S, q+ ?; M45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ ?! D/ V7 |) `! p+ x* v# \ N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- e0 [, n7 v- U" m- J m
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: i- U3 i- z, M* Mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ }8 i( W' Z cmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 k! _2 |# g& f1 x
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 ^* e: j/ w" l5 K7 f* Bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% ? j8 }5 h' u' {
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! h- [) R, [; O7 [
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! A% e- G* i+ }* N) a/ x6 a5 D+ w" m
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" x2 g9 \% F8 V$ N, `$ H3 {, g' fseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 |+ ^- q8 A% F' o6 Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 j- g* l s4 b$ h- mshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 ~+ G. I2 e: h" s& R' x& B gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
: z- B3 i2 d( }, \# p8 Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& d, h0 c% |8 L+ esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, y6 v! o3 t( L1 Z9 ]$ F+ W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# c$ L! ?. a& ]/ F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( O. A+ H. e5 b% z. ], B/ W J
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
\: X3 G r1 n) w u0 z8 O8 |' \divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 }& {( h# E' @* `, v2 w! f
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# M9 L# c* W. K2 \% Ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
e. _/ A; i, Q3 _% `. \charge the fee defined by the state.! L8 ~8 O) [4 G) @
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) i- T( a) V4 o. Y' ~* T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 t2 c& x* O" I) {of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big) _1 ]/ q$ H4 L
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) p: z1 O0 U. k: k& Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 K. a0 h/ |- H( p, Rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 U3 ]9 g2 `4 I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" k n8 Q# I- L4 P" `+ k4 y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. G4 k! n! i+ [: Ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: S" f6 i$ N1 Y; ]5 p/ l4 g
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 k X6 |0 E+ Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, K2 E" {' ~7 V- p, M+ Z6 M5 ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; z- [8 T* F# O8 @9 C6 }$ t5 k! r; z) O
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 F- g2 x% \' V) e) m' ^) Pare spaces.4 q+ c. m& ~9 K( d
2 C9 [3 `% E0 Z- B$ LThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* l" T: H m. V
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 l4 c7 S! A, b( Y9 d& [0 B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the4 e& g# u5 f. p. Y5 G, `
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 D) P) o! S% }+ Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 F3 z& ?1 ?3 }" F! U& rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 f2 o# L) g, X0 S+ j8 \/ I: u( r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 {% g$ P2 x# L. L4 ]1 W- _4 C1 fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! Z6 Z9 t+ ?! G; B6 f- ?4 {* L9 vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* V) W) }) C+ i7 z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
