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, Z; Z3 L$ [0 o# _9 Z _
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' [) S2 N0 a1 O4 {1 k, l0 mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; K6 P D+ ]- M. |* ~* M! `1 N4 i* d
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 U8 F3 k- Y. g2 q
answers to our pointed questions.6 o* C8 o) [" `$ y2 j0 t3 ]% n6 Z
2 Z4 ]! x- G$ N6 tThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; i6 W2 V% V9 b1 S/ c; O& f( P
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand1 T O8 o2 X# n* {8 O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; r% o1 N+ N& B6 o
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- H/ m& ?0 N5 y/ V( |6 ]& Z- xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
4 [/ \4 E' ^& N A2 F+ ^medical schools.' ^$ m* ? x! \' Y V# P X! i1 h
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 b/ ~& a9 V0 T* I9 v
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- k/ i; v: c; C' _ Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 f' Z8 t+ u2 e, W6 oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 ~% |7 g8 U5 ?5 G
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 E5 [) D) A2 Y- A
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 Y; B' ~4 n' F' \2 v$ d0 R! z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) ~4 U( l, c: ^) Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 h7 Y) w8 t/ A& W
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 x ?$ H+ D: d2 J* F
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 A. w9 T, B. Z- _2 Q
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# ^. N) _9 s& {# Z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 y- k, B0 ^5 ^2 C0 O
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 J! _- {2 J& O, F0 \: p1 O
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 f: } y6 g5 X0 q! { }% O
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
" |0 y- p" t. r0 ^( G) c1 q0 Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ L) W& ` \9 L' b3 z1 n; Z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' S' r. R% Y& T E0 z) J
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 Q( k$ F- D8 ^7 n9 v1 Pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" [- [! w [4 S) t
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% z% r$ F+ K+ J! E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! f# x; c% Q, ^# Y! ^0 rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ m% h0 c9 I2 {3 u. s, L0 N$ t( q3 D
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 ?$ \1 ^5 N( i; Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& M# l- _$ U4 ~6 u
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% W" G, a% Z7 S" Q1 l5 M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 i' f. _+ a& z+ j& a) Byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 [9 I m6 N5 I7 u8 R ]trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 q9 N6 @$ a+ ^3 H; Z4 G0 o @1 R
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' d. q1 H+ ^) v! N
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; m( J- k( _$ u7 `# C
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( p3 s0 s$ E7 Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# U- j% h8 V0 x" g/ fare spaces.6 w9 n- C9 W" i2 E$ `$ h2 V
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! _2 s5 u7 y- wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
: O G! o% s; r$ Z7 N( a7 wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" [: W% y- f+ s8 A6 p# T% c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" n0 |* ?3 H6 K7 q8 F0 f( y( I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) |* g( L' h }5 I3 C% Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" k' d' G" A. v) x( Y- t0 e; R
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 C% J# W. T8 z. |% ~$ r
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ {: E2 w; s( u5 l, Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.# }5 ?/ _: @6 E, @/ o; i
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
