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
8 a6 ^2 N( l7 n. U6 W+ N, l, J ~standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 A8 q/ a# [# Y4 H4 x8 s# G8 fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 [( S9 a# K! u"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. X" q7 ?, A0 c5 p
answers to our pointed questions.2 g4 `8 f; |/ \' N
6 H. [0 [% l+ z, V* m% xThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 {% f% A. `# M H6 ~45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ y* D) v7 W( P+ D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) B! i2 `* V6 d& f2 U9 F$ w$ T$ Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* y. m1 b, B5 ?" \ U. S
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' ?& |7 x% ?( B9 lmedical schools.$ D$ C* g3 K5 C5 B% R
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ E1 r8 m: }+ Y3 `$ J* J: d& ?9 _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 o0 v- i: a9 o, ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 j# p3 Y9 l5 r6 A/ X. l- Lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. F7 b+ N6 C+ Y2 Ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ m0 S1 H: X1 c5 w
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! `, w- g$ C( ?! {$ {' o1 Xseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! q9 {1 N, e5 F
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( i, }$ ?4 I$ ]3 r0 \ ]
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) \( r. h9 W0 k5 f* Ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ V3 h% f$ k7 G) D4 L G/ mThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* [1 D# p3 Q0 W. g8 t4 w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
4 |. V+ d3 \4 a9 [) i$ Isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 Q+ V+ e: S" M2 nhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, x' \# e2 Q% V, M8 D! I
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# @/ ^) T% a" M( P r
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& G S, P1 b8 r5 Y3 B
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& N' S+ ~1 i/ Z2 u6 k! X5 ?) MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# v- p8 ~9 l4 |2 y+ i
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 g/ N/ v) y. A( u* c* I- J- Dcharge the fee defined by the state.6 O9 j2 g# D5 _* R% j
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
Z0 Q r$ a5 }on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 C0 w+ M0 G& { [. o7 ~of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& q- i( J( r0 {( r# u& x9 Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 t6 _0 O5 D* d$ Hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( e) S5 W {: d4 y4 Y2 u% ]
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' n' I8 X( P0 \- `1 m- J
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. m$ F/ i& |. t B: a$ C
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people1 s r5 X6 y i! g+ f8 h
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, o% X7 J- @* U! u$ e. Zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* E. x, P+ l: N* U. n
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
5 _ X/ {& ]3 x( l* ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 v2 `2 j9 g( H2 i5 N
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* q% v" ?2 g. ?% V& Z4 V+ care spaces.
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( t5 F5 c; @1 oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' z$ \2 u2 u E. O jto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 y% Z f% r. n' ~own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! [" e' ?. N: J
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ A0 G* X. A: v7 v) m" `9 b5 Z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ m8 N& G- i( T; D8 lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 V8 ~9 I6 P3 H; w( j2 T4 w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; w$ p( [, @( L0 z* Ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 R: e d3 N$ Q, J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- W n& U ?8 V* y$ l$ Q1 t& _2 K
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
