我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 A/ p/ w) E( k" z- _
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 \% J* u0 e1 O; ]% }/ oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' r+ t b# z: D0 e) D$ x"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ {% R. g9 G2 |# Q# l1 |answers to our pointed questions.
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$ e7 Z: Q/ Y* I4 @, K/ GThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 F* d) C, D" j: K& y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# X/ I1 m3 S$ i" q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" r9 P5 `3 v5 P9 ^& G% X0 Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 V/ o$ K7 |. J# \2 q, Pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) A2 k7 C# l) Amedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- P: K' u$ l: P- d7 c; v1 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 c2 ]0 {: h2 @2 Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" h# v5 G# G1 r6 a( J/ a5 u; {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ z& W7 I. I4 }( W/ J1 J4 Q5 tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) A ^7 w& T+ E' n( M% P1 B0 g
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. M8 S$ N% j$ D- @0 ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and d+ h8 m3 c' s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( T' v& e( r" ~ `' q+ [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 R! G6 B8 \" }: [) C: Z* ?: J) y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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p* g7 Z4 q4 S" eThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. P) N! ]' R/ ]9 b+ k# Z2 u& d
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 g; v5 g% W7 F! V; [ l9 G4 ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 W }- Q- x/ t$ {# z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: T* f0 v3 j% sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: B/ S/ c2 d+ e* O& Qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
2 @% H3 S2 N9 y. Y7 odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
' m" r5 K g- w6 P; [Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, T2 x& U% j; W4 Z( Ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. E7 a. D7 P- n! W
charge the fee defined by the state.
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& J! H/ `( M' q: I; b& Y% {/ JThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; s3 Y# ]" U. A; r& x0 `
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
5 l+ }6 S' p& ]2 `; k- Dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ p" `% L" m8 w- o U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% |! H a Y$ E: tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ v4 x# e3 V) p6 M
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 v! T1 B$ X! [
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( e+ W* H! H: N4 ~9 a' z, [' K
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, e6 n$ f* i5 ?3 s( s6 xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch s# d& v5 y3 Q2 y. n9 a4 |4 u
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 _ S/ O4 `: x* _! ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 K! H% S' }0 M3 T: `4 F: m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 d/ T1 j8 }0 j# z6 Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 {0 A2 p8 `3 }* @6 `; Zare spaces.; C" `/ @- m+ s: i4 Z
+ j) D& G% ~" NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 J: s# W( C i/ P; \9 h/ v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they( a6 I: o' N" [- T" K) I# c
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 o$ D" @3 H- e3 _. F" I, C0 N5 j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ S% ?) P' I* v3 q+ Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* R' W3 q Y2 [6 sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 W4 O5 V, ?' o; d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# ]' f4 n1 c0 n. E1 M# D: I
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* c& t( K' P" ~8 a8 z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& S" [2 F" }- O6 l2 |) C
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
