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
4 u. c& {' o/ N( G5 _standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- ~$ l+ z" D; N6 m5 _, u5 a6 l
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 I( n* `' Z! Y* j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 v6 `5 z3 A7 _. G, `/ s& ?' g
answers to our pointed questions.3 g0 o8 S6 Q9 q/ b
5 ~4 G# P5 I" s0 ~$ `( JThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- x W: ^) o8 w45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 l4 [1 C: m t: G7 d- H C4 gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 v& W6 O6 c2 ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! h* Z0 B; @( d& g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ V* t' C. L% f* ?1 o$ b
medical schools.
! K& `, Q6 D0 t0 s: e' d' V8 ~: F1 o5 A7 X. R
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! }+ W1 {4 Y* w D$ Rgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 c. \1 v4 j7 r8 D, h
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: y/ I1 {$ z5 p
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 I& C# M& D6 x( c( ]
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) i2 N3 ]+ Y/ H6 y$ x. N
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( p) ^# B. p" u
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 _1 _4 u3 } c9 [ f% X1 tmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- }( G- H) Y; E' g' f4 G
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 h) _/ g9 [: F
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ X& _% O9 @: u3 B
9 a& W9 u4 J8 y' M9 O7 `& U
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 u4 z$ {3 l# d3 g. \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 `# y, [7 |7 S$ p+ L/ C* y: R
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 g U" @& E h3 D4 h% I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ {0 c# `; a3 ]4 D: t5 L& B) Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 Z d" j4 C% b" z+ V& ~% Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 {6 R: m. X3 c! ]! D; {/ q8 o6 Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 f# A. T! G3 _1 Q. Y: ]$ hDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 M5 d1 y C1 ?# I/ o, c6 x5 J! Ka lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& [) ~, O$ A* @* _9 H+ ^; T4 j
charge the fee defined by the state.
, p- o3 j% X, i+ K; V8 Q* w" w/ F( y& }9 x/ o0 D% R
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get }* {9 @ x6 Y) @& C- x
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- j$ E. S4 ]" ^+ L1 l" I: Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. B# O8 N# n7 c5 U8 y. u: H# y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, |7 x( }4 p/ S% k+ @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
a& z# G! e, a( v! x6 k6 ]+ Wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' U, z: {& S2 P0 D; H9 j# h7 Nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) D& d* b* M7 {' m' t) u: X# J2 u) Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 W) K) X- L p- S* ?trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch* V- m+ L; e a. f. a9 g# P8 b8 H4 s5 Z2 Z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that9 w2 Y" G8 R+ k/ r; B, W5 \6 `" w) [% T
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% ^' p: f( j" R1 P g6 Ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 F$ G( W8 K- O4 A" o+ C' Y4 E( C% {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ b7 c) a7 o7 r7 ?are spaces." x1 K6 O& i& A6 v) f
; {# [( P) E9 C. y, h9 i; UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 {4 F0 K( {( C9 n ^- ^+ U" dto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% b0 j6 S1 l9 d7 c' Fown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 q9 Y/ L: |6 g5 U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 _& g0 c; [6 E0 p8 J5 o" Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 T9 Q* l- h9 S+ ~/ d1 g; hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# j& B }! {1 l- W2 {6 w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! w$ O, U; ]$ D
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; i" t$ J% |& n4 Z8 |8 c
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., F3 u* _3 C8 t/ ^3 s# g
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.