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
6 ^! @$ ^1 A& d. r% qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ ?" D: f1 M2 n( `, @' \3 xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) l$ O( _9 \" z, |" w"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! v4 _; h, f/ H% v" {answers to our pointed questions.: F3 s# {; i4 Y- l% L! ]; G
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% E/ K& [% O+ y* E/ ?- j8 _% N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, Z! T& C) B1 @: `! z6 J' l" V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% e5 \1 ]4 H6 R) g, L* h) dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 H+ f+ F2 R. xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 {5 m& Y1 R0 V3 X5 [9 D( Y% j! }
medical schools.* G' G7 n* U, U0 ]
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 w* Z. S4 I2 u9 S& P4 P
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants5 Z2 `* h e, Q2 I* r; E
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 Q/ Z1 |3 R9 Z! aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% c- k" ~! I9 d4 a2 M; Q0 k
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 r- r* Y8 V: H+ W' c0 z5 x8 [1 Vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
, s1 R) @* E2 Z% n0 e+ gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 i# B! ^5 m/ T8 R' j* l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 [# `; o% F/ A+ f; f; M, Y8 ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) J3 J2 D$ F; g) t. Q9 Usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 L7 v' L. R/ P+ E' y
& ?0 i& K u: ^: s, v3 y% n+ l9 ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 p6 [2 ?% |% E" Q4 {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 A6 I, Z' X/ H/ t) C5 b
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& C# A' D9 R9 r& p
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" p r3 T) x: I" [ Kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! j; ^0 S0 g& |( n p8 ]
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 `5 X4 q1 _3 J/ m- H) u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ U3 g9 _7 `: f; b' P) cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( i, f/ ^! ?: |$ O, P( f& Xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( v' H3 b" N2 [9 {/ j! W
charge the fee defined by the state.3 q$ Q; ~2 ?% k3 H# ]1 \& x
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% [# }3 j- x& c5 X3 s v$ L) U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; [- ` D- d- U# Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. W7 j3 B# d1 t* rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ C$ F1 c% c! Dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 R+ P- u T5 g+ ~# E! h$ M' @7 \
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on( V$ [% }5 V# K" y6 t
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 }" R; [. q+ @+ j5 v" A/ Ayou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people y* Y8 |% K. M3 ?* ]: I
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& d2 `1 \# z: P/ r6 t* E- U0 Zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 w$ y6 N- Y3 A" gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: R9 q1 {& ^ e7 s( v
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or t$ K) V4 ^; N# q/ u4 D
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
0 r: t6 K! j; B3 ]: [! Uare spaces.
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0 X; N( a! O( F4 H- HThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi5 s+ J' Q1 `. _& X7 ^: A: U5 R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 u6 B; M! ~* R" X6 eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, Q( T7 F/ ~, j1 ]$ k. a
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# X3 L" p- G" [) `2 r) W( J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 ^. h3 y: Z9 }
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; p. \- p) z3 h) ~9 |, Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 P `- C3 G9 S7 u/ r2 jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* _6 `, H$ b/ w# R/ k8 k! Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* ?# i; i. N( s2 Y" M) ?8 {7 ]
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
