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
1 }: S/ f5 H( \! r7 J! Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) v2 R% J, d4 ~/ ?* @
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 ^7 I. P+ |) ]1 P& b
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" L3 q$ t, ?* G& f5 B+ A
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
8 k/ U* z. ~6 O% X T& B45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. @% G* _( S$ T* L# ?1 f3 G
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 F/ B4 z( J4 Z' t1 w
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; y; T" ?8 T0 i4 m0 t5 mto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 C0 l. K* \. @+ p: m1 P' qmedical schools.
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+ C' F% Z+ B0 Q6 _$ d; [Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) d5 l1 I/ ^5 s
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: `" r7 e% L0 P' O) A0 hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& _" n3 y5 D Nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
1 m* k U1 A% Q# o% J& _" ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( o, i% x! J1 b7 Y0 q1 J1 R- w9 |over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 _2 S1 u, f& l4 Y* eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 {6 g' n6 Q; Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 P8 g6 j4 r1 L1 U$ w6 _! G, `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# U- {9 b W3 j; |: fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." i: a. P; Y& S0 ~
8 l: _7 k5 t4 U. |: t$ k- eThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 x- }- I. ?4 l4 z8 pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ E" ^; m& c7 B2 `- qsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) a/ x F8 |+ I. q7 Y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. o+ b. A" A& u; A, kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 Q8 R( P! D% d t3 E& M
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: W8 s! z* }: C3 n( h. `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 |$ l! S) K" J; E% Z% sDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 U: B/ F% H9 R. k, Ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% n4 r: A. g6 ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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% ?; n8 P( ~6 k0 UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 J8 O6 ?9 D0 t1 v
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ s& j( N4 F7 E$ Y) O( y3 L
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ A+ B, C% a" O6 c/ O( v2 htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( q1 g7 o; u8 q q% A# wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% O! [+ c5 h$ t1 t' P$ ?' gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, y6 O% W2 n/ p( L! W; ^4 m
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 u0 E2 W* L$ \+ y c9 zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
H `0 L9 r/ {/ o, R" Vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
b% t, d$ k) Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% E; h, J( D- a$ F1 cpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- l1 P1 _ y1 J
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 d( x& r! V7 l6 B+ Y) o, g1 g& S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ S9 D, G$ x: }% I5 e$ q; B
are spaces.9 L0 g# Q+ d; L* z
3 G9 t3 k8 D+ h) G/ V( |, L( oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, }- j9 K9 P$ r$ U5 z5 i
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) Y, Z; O8 Q; n$ b/ }. C" Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 y7 k# @% V% V( P, W5 _ S# c. V$ F. h E
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" c z+ t* L8 K, X+ Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( o6 ^- H" a, D& E
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" |3 d7 t- z1 p1 @- B8 w; ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 X* Q/ g% z1 lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; ~4 ^9 I9 ~) N) ]
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. s& T- j, Q& I/ T R0 ?
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
