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% c- T1 l8 {- D4 }+ k' [standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 [& _% p1 {3 _; V) Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
( S! t m! x7 m& Q5 ?7 O4 r"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ r3 K1 _1 `1 [, L7 _' d$ j
answers to our pointed questions.
& Q l7 d* ~% v! ?- S5 A# O* F5 T2 w5 M
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" N( F, l: s4 C; L R45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand9 Z; I, j: p$ W/ ~: M
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 B$ M) W# X5 z" ?" A& Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 M8 a3 R6 G1 c) ]6 a0 H4 _ B+ y8 I
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# ~) n6 h5 s; X, z2 T% xmedical schools.
; K3 \" \" @- J: S q" n7 l/ u" i3 p* Q" }) T& M
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* p) a+ O$ w6 G+ Kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. V9 L9 ~! B: I% p2 _' L p( X* ]( H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# Y+ _- ~; e) r. A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba# @- n W! ?* T, [
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 d( n& A, x8 h+ _' |over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' O' m: s4 T6 G) a s `6 \
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' a. G# o! o& \- B6 @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; I& i p6 j) S& `* S1 O
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 x" b# S4 t9 e+ z! m# Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
8 @! K3 F. u4 i o
# R& m$ G Z: V" m/ {& e/ ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( Q( J5 ^2 V# v3 @) f3 T7 e- v* S
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& x7 w0 l/ E4 v7 `; A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" [( `! k1 e* r; L# O& V
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 [ E5 V. }7 b/ E
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 h7 V) y' e' Z$ a' e
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& R( x1 E- u/ w+ v' m
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 u" \: O( ?. u, _
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
6 a. f( I/ x" A1 r( Y" Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 M& e8 [0 \0 C) H( h. W) W
charge the fee defined by the state.
A3 |2 Y$ Y5 B0 l
0 m; B5 C2 f3 w( L2 n8 ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- A5 K* b8 y# Yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type+ o9 r# W( E7 w f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ Z3 p: L0 H- \& Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% X/ H1 n. Z$ y3 K
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( M1 I/ X2 M! h6 f" c2 ?6 L
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
) F5 h: p X7 R9 X7 Dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 o+ q; B& T" t% Y% p, {
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ V, ]+ z' u- @7 {2 vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch9 n! t: x' ` ~1 S$ g$ l2 e6 o
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 C" R, y: R& Y# @! W9 @0 u) O
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 E( w& g9 r! b" bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ S" B L6 j+ Z) [/ k" f3 K
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there% c( O' t {; Q/ ?
are spaces.
% H9 ^# L9 R+ f" W I& j9 [
" m) B+ }" s- DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! B6 q8 W$ X9 V1 `to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 c- |8 c: g* w; M+ m
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 W, x3 `2 |9 Y8 d1 }2 U4 b% R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# t7 \) L1 s# O& I# G# Y& e2 j
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 a0 _8 ^7 ~) l9 X4 c/ C( Xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- v. W) D8 D5 `3 ]nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
y: p3 i. y1 b1 w: @car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! s) \# {6 w+ f4 e. z1 s) i
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- A6 ?0 h- Z' j' x) E$ y4 _
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
