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
8 Q9 M/ X4 ^. j3 B$ x* Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 F& H/ E& s& f1 x& K' ]( r2 V2 h+ q, ~& L
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, n: W) L5 |/ x- \2 A"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. I; G( s7 }! m- J0 J: @answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& L! ^7 @0 i* V- {+ i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% t3 {5 o3 ]. Z- g& L% _ Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% y2 b$ X* L. J; v
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ Y, l& N6 w+ K+ i0 x1 nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 k/ z \8 b0 _& ~2 D+ c& n7 nmedical schools.
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/ }5 c4 z8 U, n$ L& T( tEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the! h( D6 q0 E8 M+ m1 z& w1 ?3 s, X
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* C! z/ t* ^8 ]" A: D4 }2 `to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 U3 q1 N+ O! A' u4 S/ p/ j' jassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& `9 g# M* L8 ?, Q. p4 ?: @
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
& H i# p$ r) l% P2 X' N {over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
0 K, H* G* N% y% jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" G6 n3 G/ y- I9 K5 R+ jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 Y0 l* e6 L4 i0 I/ Yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some- @: B) r3 `+ ^$ |/ E( Y! C
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. W& Q% y1 C. T6 a7 B- @
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* {1 \ M+ {( e9 D+ lprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) K4 q2 m/ X0 m" {8 r2 C& O+ Xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 m' F8 m) v& G1 G1 z! n; V5 Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 X, M" R8 v3 r2 y7 P0 [( othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# }! a7 v Y: |3 c' U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 ~/ y5 f2 P3 D) w2 A Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 W! a7 O* F" h" y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 j( T( `- I/ v" U* _. K8 ~) A
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 Z: E, s" A: P" [charge the fee defined by the state.3 G; o5 |2 r+ }( |
4 m% }- t5 Q) X% G8 pThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 v5 _0 p; W) m0 s. v# `8 lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
9 P& x( I( ?' Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 |: p, s; G) Z) X* F+ w. g" @, gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
- P, m$ B/ W' @, J: j# _seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- C8 j7 O, H; r
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ {3 ^! @6 L% |$ o! T7 P
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 \, L- t6 @6 [. @3 b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. B* ?5 c3 u6 S5 k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
4 n I- l; R |. L e( fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) a4 V0 ?, |; C3 [3 e$ {
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 ~. y9 d+ L ~& lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! `5 n0 `6 q% X! L4 wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 H- h& V/ b2 h
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! ?" O5 I! f) b4 q3 f
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. G$ J ~9 t; Z2 D% hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ _/ f& h0 I% c3 ]+ P
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. Y& x# A2 U6 f! e1 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( T8 s$ v7 ~6 }: v" Z6 I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 c ^( Y( a- ^" m. [+ S1 e, ~; ~0 ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* W7 f" U0 F+ k$ |' g
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* ]5 s/ E3 K( H: s* R5 ?4 Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
' f! x1 \2 O% \' | We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
