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; w5 R n3 n: W1 \$ `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, _5 Q% Z* |( y/ @3 m! c" I
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 u/ z+ ?& m. e& h* g9 \: }8 V4 Z9 R"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. b \# d5 A2 f4 w1 {! w; M
answers to our pointed questions.1 D# Z1 L' R r$ O
" Y! Q0 `/ X4 m4 s5 n9 XThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 ~: u! N( X8 K- J! B6 z7 T45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 _4 q$ a) ^! |' c" x5 Y2 V; D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) R& i4 _0 ]/ T1 gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 R$ _+ |7 f/ U# m" k3 o: F" Wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 N9 K$ Y1 }6 ^medical schools.
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( E. t) t8 e$ y& S5 }! B. NEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
4 ?5 H" u Q ?* z: T& [/ cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" X l7 Q( p# E: U) ]0 pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
. A$ }. D; E' G' Passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ n" V4 O" T2 ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 i. O1 X* h& W! G" K" w$ |over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 \9 j* b: c# o y+ Useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 v. |/ c I6 G0 J; E8 @
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 ?5 U- J3 b% t9 Y8 U" a- ^- x# [shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! F0 Q5 [, u8 j% m8 osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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) Q! R2 S B& w+ f, w4 qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ v8 l1 ~6 m; O |8 q& V5 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 l! X' e- O' H' ^5 J) msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, ^& Z4 |. _+ r8 I7 b* \have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, J; L' i" n, k V1 U- j G& ^thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# z! V- k7 g( c! c9 `
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ k- ~' D1 A- kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 e3 l9 V0 w# {+ T5 b* [Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ s- M+ L, Z' i0 [ f! Q& ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: Z" |& A6 |$ v$ z' jcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. A7 c. z1 G: \3 ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' n/ t. Q" y1 _2 l7 @
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( U$ F" f: W) ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% t3 j. l) E5 p6 B' k- [8 u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 A7 h2 H+ P: q( R, k
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 A3 V4 V9 |/ E1 s, v
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 ]: f; y1 n' q1 @4 u. S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 @- E( r9 O p' s8 |trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 q* P' ^1 v7 c& ?$ E; f# D7 ^
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, M* s/ L/ k, o- T4 ?& e1 f7 Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 z6 }- t( r5 l ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 n- j7 _: j, |) u4 x) O( hbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: Q" \, Q5 \/ {' ?: x+ O
are spaces.- \* {; G7 f/ Q4 C/ t
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ Z( Y6 \0 Y2 x
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' k) M* R3 u% N# j" t: Aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ D/ \; S! l/ [# \7 E& I40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different d# m; L, _2 B% w
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" L6 t- |) p$ S. G) c0 Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) t, z0 n1 @5 X( z' g3 u( unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" i$ c% n+ `( B$ d0 V+ D
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 [& V) t. b! A
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 \- C5 N- o) _7 A( ~! Q6 m We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
