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
0 ^! a2 L" M jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) T4 {" v) u( a7 R9 N# @9 H: X
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' A8 n: Q" F P6 X5 R
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 k8 }0 u4 [- _1 |/ { b$ Q% t
answers to our pointed questions./ `$ u N) s0 X, P
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ i. Z! x" W0 o. F* I
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 n6 f, H3 I1 Fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
h% f/ Y5 e5 }7 p m; _/ mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* w! h6 U. J. ~3 f" M& F- Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
. H" X, T6 I3 b5 G6 d$ H4 Xmedical schools.
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1 `) B' u- b0 ?6 y$ V$ w5 yEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 j3 J% }( x% P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 r* F6 L4 c {' Y' H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' w; N. u6 n& d/ P( n
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; C/ t. m* a# ]is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ X/ _* F, w0 S4 T+ Oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% f- N+ B: Z7 {% m0 h( Q1 ~' ^9 Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 e* j. C$ `, g7 g7 ~mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: M4 R4 t( ]1 N) m' vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& v$ C1 K5 G( l1 e/ t* V! R/ f1 _" W2 zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 x7 A% X& }2 S& K9 @1 m+ L
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
& `8 d4 |# V% p# E; k7 `private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. k; I2 Z/ E/ J `+ s
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ q2 ^! {" ]/ C6 phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 p2 P$ T$ J! c
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 M4 D- o7 ~8 I) ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- V% D' T. b! `3 L9 Edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." r' }% n' }$ i$ j2 \: f
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 d5 z9 M* C8 e! va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ G( `+ J2 |, x' [
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 n7 Y8 V6 E* |6 P% t% c, J0 ]7 U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 ~# N7 t1 C3 x) H2 h8 Y- p
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( z) F$ _) w: j$ v( ltruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: a" C4 s+ n. L4 j- X" N0 h; z- d3 sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ p( x+ I2 z7 {" p) r
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) N2 ] X) m4 n: P2 b1 G( P8 P0 c
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 D% @. [: q' g2 ?" b% w
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: |* y4 Q2 U: n/ f1 B" ?$ b) o6 h
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 O$ f: ^ M" `hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 R6 p$ M0 ?% x, {1 Q' ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ O! @0 L, }8 U6 }! S- Oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ J5 X- n! a0 D6 ~! n
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ v! i! M' H6 t+ V- Y- u5 v7 c1 [are spaces.
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1 d! F) b' {, X% t& ]/ g& jThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( ~! y' Y' B1 T+ y0 c' k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 O0 y4 ?" O/ {4 M, B5 q7 U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
. }! X0 G( O' v5 d: G" E( K$ L7 j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 H. k$ l! o# n4 P1 T0 L+ Z! ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- C, g* G6 X9 E4 q* xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few U4 a d, t; x( X b4 j3 C* s
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' z+ O/ A7 C. I) v9 Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
k4 Q) o) u. r& T6 S1 e% his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 I9 W; w; V2 m( N ], z, @& i We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
