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" o5 u. x4 j2 _( u$ \1 n4 M. H
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 Z* M/ _- B9 r8 O6 T% B8 D
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,6 a$ z" u1 s' G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 u! @- P2 v4 O+ y0 I2 B* Sanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 P3 q2 d/ _' q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, g& G2 _0 e. r' K) N! ^/ ]6 {
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" @8 e7 g7 L. ~- `7 g& f$ R& Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 X. e* q+ S( ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 Q2 P( b& n. G! ^6 M
medical schools.5 b- W0 T9 n0 B% H
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ ^, s, T& ^5 d5 n* Z# ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ n, e1 b) n1 W
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 y/ I8 P2 J. c- K7 Z' z& ]
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 Y$ N" [/ i. {8 Y; h- Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 c$ x9 ^' R! U' |- Rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" I# s& y8 `# Z% J1 wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
3 m$ Q; V* v; ` m7 L$ @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( o( M# ~ q% P2 v4 n
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) ]: m6 ] d2 Y0 Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ p, m4 l; y; ~$ E& f( W8 F
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and2 P- E! Y y" Q6 e4 E- P2 H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 ]' o9 a1 g3 D' [( E# I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) R" X8 d, [6 Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; l: N* Z, e$ D3 ^
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& B+ ?' x8 o/ p0 l5 c( sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ h' N9 }; P& e: h. mDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# ~, r! A( b! f0 o5 d; ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 i; a- K- D: t+ }% F4 V+ t6 ocharge the fee defined by the state.5 e: r$ X u1 C/ N8 D7 ?
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 G+ G$ W) s' i7 {* @' s$ ^on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 M. U8 r* A- o! J: S" }! h1 iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big+ J6 m$ E" D1 F& X
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 S$ \! H4 j& Z O6 h* ^seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 q3 l. P. n3 m5 `0 d. J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on/ P& C" \6 S( N* M& _) o6 F9 H
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 \/ z0 E# b7 R; ~
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 D8 B! m3 L/ d& Y2 r, [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ N& Q3 G* @) f) `* k3 ]hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: d# B7 C# r) r* \ H+ u% apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: T9 s7 {9 |4 Wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% Z( e" T6 J4 G- W& ~
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: U) \( Q, e" f! i2 r6 Xare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 y4 I% C- J3 T. i! X" qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
0 e# i! a% V$ ?0 k" vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; d, U$ v4 q0 u" v& x40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 ~+ n, D5 j2 y* K
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 D" E* `1 Y: P; F& Y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" _% |- G1 a" `: [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 b7 Q* g" E5 v; {! R, ^3 `, u% o T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" r* r0 d8 v3 R. w9 h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 H; C0 f+ f% y5 N0 {- ~4 q" A We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
