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
! U# @; r" k' W! E! i; }) B8 n, ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 P# n0 X3 I1 w2 Xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,. K0 S+ x$ K6 a/ Y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* k \- K) g9 c5 P$ j) ^
answers to our pointed questions.+ j% \6 v7 _+ W- z- r
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" c6 V' Y. E' g% |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
b+ i9 H7 W0 h+ _2 zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. U: ]: Y/ v6 M5 ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. A: {' A4 Z" Y& N" h/ P
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ b Y/ q; T# B* f. P8 C9 L4 pmedical schools.5 [1 Q6 L5 H6 m. u
7 t8 n: q1 {" {0 i9 x# |1 zEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
4 O0 J+ I+ p9 [6 a% Kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 B/ |9 J8 P& m: T) R
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 ~( r- S) u# P
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 c2 Z. x8 D( r" f
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 G& L; j7 |0 e9 q& A! H# s5 Q% H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 P* G- M; {2 r/ q, K
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& X* U! u3 b; i1 C3 F4 Umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 h( H- l5 x9 A8 K" [6 Dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 r9 ~, Q( |0 S" k7 x3 `sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 @+ Q7 O6 ? _3 N+ [private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& a' Z! m* e- N8 q2 h- Vsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! B6 H# Y+ {6 T8 e& X6 H5 m: _have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 `: p7 E( n3 u1 k1 y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 P0 {2 o5 ^5 d1 Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ \0 s1 g/ J9 B/ l7 Z, e( ?
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 m" w5 w6 o* o/ B, F3 ZDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 O) H: E% c4 ^# r0 ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
# b7 n- m1 p& icharge the fee defined by the state./ r, P7 z0 n$ G- }2 g
4 L# J7 R4 q0 a: GThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 @3 e+ y( @( ^4 X6 yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: l9 R6 k- J% B7 C
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big i3 j! h n$ t2 `- ?8 O
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* K) w8 R. [; G* C+ U, E1 N* Q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" Z, r2 ?; J8 f. v* A1 z' Aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 F' ]$ S3 _/ K% j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* X5 S* P& Z3 Zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: H" ]) @. K; }, |; x+ I- i ^/ Utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
Z Z1 T9 ^6 H; B: N. ?. ~0 c: chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. ]8 F) @, V2 Q6 {% Mpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# H( v& C; d, X- K/ H& t* j! _
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! A# _0 K# _& g6 Ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( N+ R" X1 }1 U; O/ X7 X
are spaces.
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e! C9 \) t/ b$ Q6 r$ M& y2 ]There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 J2 R! e: {* G5 Z5 ?: j# j
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% y, D% r, g8 F6 k3 B2 @& M& E- Cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' y0 X" i- g' r( ~; b* H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 _: c* c& a9 o; E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ L! ^8 c$ I+ g; ?best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, {$ M! F, f* {( w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 j* [; S+ v2 c4 l' Z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, \6 p% |( O6 s& \' a
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 r. Y4 ]6 S) C! g, ~( R0 D+ a
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
