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
5 Y' S5 \! i! v+ n9 L9 {9 sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 W1 `5 h4 B; f* ?- @* C) r Qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. Y3 c! Y* z3 D2 r( `, Z. i"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& R/ @ P0 v4 Y- c% K( u
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; h* s1 @& g& h! A5 j" v! O
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 v% ~; B8 [8 [# k4 Q" \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" x) D6 n& ^9 i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; r* c: a( X% m8 g0 U7 S# b8 z8 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 K; a- \" Q7 W- b1 ?; `9 J3 kmedical schools.5 ]( V$ Z* U6 Z$ V
% X8 n( E' v7 JEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) B- S8 V3 K, J; {0 z6 E# F7 y( y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 o. U) e: z: T" \$ nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ A' B% j$ ]+ ?( Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( Z5 R% ?' n5 \, u, ?
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* ~% d1 j2 v, f1 O
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 Y1 k) R9 [3 R5 d3 Y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 i n- k- b. E! f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! u" x. X+ ~+ W- `: V# B7 T$ O
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 q* T A( b$ w# i o
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; h0 x; H, n' G6 c( i7 T
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* }3 m+ i5 c" u, S' ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) E# M- k+ l6 f
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' P8 d( z X( ~
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: B" `& p) ]1 D
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
1 ?1 P5 o4 I$ mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ V+ V& B: X# yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 F# p# ^+ }+ }$ [% va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% U3 h1 x+ B9 U' c& s) J. n6 w' ]charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* k8 J3 Y, P0 K. b: w6 f2 `! Hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# g6 v7 w4 n+ g+ oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ h1 ~% x7 B* ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 K8 F0 X! J" F% t5 x) ^. v [
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 ?: M8 d: B; k: C9 k0 @% L! a
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! T( g5 k$ W4 C& F/ X6 y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 G: x0 u9 a7 i& G0 U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ G K7 B( `5 |3 \trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch; F/ ]: q' g; U- F5 N% d# f& ]! S+ W
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' u2 C% l% M0 z0 I, J* {
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- k& g6 F8 h( t! \0 v8 Y6 ]1 a
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 T0 G: \3 f5 J2 o6 c1 \1 r5 h% J( o' z9 |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) W* p" v v. ?& ?) vare spaces.
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- L# K8 J0 j2 [There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" s( V- l' W! F) M5 O- _. pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& }5 H# F* F% n
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( }& D/ p- ]; a$ h2 q1 L+ z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# H/ l# K0 R6 N4 Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 i. E4 z$ F- w( w0 tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& i' H6 r: l3 i; I, K1 }7 s; gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 j& I4 S6 i5 p& B" {2 L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: e, m) G9 h# q/ F3 Y: q% ?& w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 u# P. t, ]2 ?. x' R
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
