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
. h# X8 t0 v+ x t+ G$ fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 L; e( f7 X2 k$ M% b
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 g/ \) @, l, \: m# a# B0 [
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 f; V3 n1 q: \+ s
answers to our pointed questions.
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" ]. A6 L) J+ Q' |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- r. t( f' }( d8 H/ B/ O
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand o7 h7 P6 ~. T- B8 a5 g3 H& m( A
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* x: A# ]% g+ V( k& B6 a0 X/ I. {
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; x4 @2 e# z) C% Zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 k/ H2 ~- X" s9 ]4 h
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 v! i7 i7 @, O$ a+ e. S
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( q3 R. y5 M! @7 V! Qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 P5 z' ]5 y" L1 @0 iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- D/ n) p8 L4 W$ P; r n1 ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 ]2 y/ W4 B( t7 M' e. k* G6 yover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ s0 V; y( n% a& C; |) ~3 B! }9 S1 _seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and R" `5 R* |( M8 [6 P2 l3 g5 r
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' Z/ y+ p' Q+ c) U2 Z2 t* A7 Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 F. d* v% e* Z0 B
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( P. P: h. K0 Dprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; r0 L/ D, Z+ {( I8 nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 b3 K |/ d) ~5 lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 u: z! C$ l8 G6 Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
@9 w# b2 k( |" n& @sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) |' e. u4 J& }7 g+ ]6 n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ e; z! _, J" [! f" n$ W5 z' i. i( i! b
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! [% N# N A1 C; oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 L1 X% P: j! U) K+ x s# E; f
charge the fee defined by the state.4 X; G& L4 l6 l2 ~! F+ Y
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. M2 O' s' Z( \+ e( T
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: ]- x' V/ `7 R( A! `# c4 xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& \0 P; E# Z/ R
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( Z+ p9 v) `' ~$ P7 G" nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- S5 J t/ w7 M- B! q: B7 H L1 Zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 `: Q' Q7 B& h2 c5 M* H# }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" ?7 G# Z; P( z$ [& g2 p) K! V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* U6 s3 {* B2 T) B& E7 rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 W5 R. ?$ M( ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, v: q& q8 Z& i' _2 x- y/ hpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 }" W4 D; V$ E# g
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) ^" l! f# Q# K: N3 n
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there" {% z i6 ^9 z5 K, {
are spaces.( {3 F7 n, v1 ~' o
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- C# e! e4 `0 z9 K: v" B
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. T0 M! D* V, Q! hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ H. P/ b; j# N1 [1 r% C40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, J& o k! P. M, t2 e) F$ d& \parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: Z M: q4 m' P1 V1 M. o) E4 mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) h# A: e. ]' ~+ n+ p& h) j% Onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of K; `5 q. z8 l
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; ^/ p2 M* e% X4 }9 f+ T" `0 gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., Y2 L6 U8 P# @3 H1 I
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
