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
! C; g2 Z4 h, R' O1 H) Sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( `* ^* ^1 A: G. m: Y: mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ S8 n& t4 {0 q3 A0 n- M) z& b! @$ t- {
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! M9 E8 b2 n+ d" Nanswers to our pointed questions.1 l, ~1 d- x6 O0 o
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* V' J0 D! B: ^$ O. c) o+ ]( l- h' @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- E, L5 K2 J# A' x0 d* D2 x9 Y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) T, y9 N7 _" y& P, Y( F7 N ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& j/ i( [& T, C/ v! A$ _' z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ {) I9 S. [2 ^6 p6 e3 Y
medical schools.5 x1 W. l2 h7 H/ \( W+ l) z* E3 D
! ^4 C# Q2 \" Z* Q9 k: GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. o' f" q$ j% X4 r' ~+ W$ Y4 fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( x% r- q, Y2 w9 ~( {7 [! k1 @4 _to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, P; J! S1 K7 H1 g" K
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( g& ~; z2 ]- N' ^9 qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* R/ T$ ]2 a( k" S8 D5 }over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 a6 O+ I8 ~$ \7 w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. {0 E* j }. [' u7 \mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 R7 n9 L, T. Qshortage which the government is addressing by converting some# \; I8 B( X8 H* B3 }0 {
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* a0 @4 A, v1 H ^* bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 u, i) a6 @, Z$ p- m: ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 ~" r- |5 n6 M( M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 _& j7 F! f9 q; o' ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! b! A6 P8 |/ r# Lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 W: M, ]" l% h0 _9 D& }8 j8 s: [* ~/ R
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. [6 F. j O$ T3 }$ {
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
$ v( _8 B9 s; X, {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 N/ J2 Q& @' _& dcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: F3 @" K5 \. ]4 z+ ?" D+ Non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 k) z) ^0 y& ~$ F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 }7 R3 h6 i( m# _3 c% ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! u4 ^, w0 v9 C5 j& B5 Q4 T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& C9 I I2 @$ e: O. J/ k2 O+ I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* j; ?/ R& I$ U
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, f4 j& T; T. p9 Y/ o, `6 `0 {you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 @" E6 K0 x' `- D7 J+ R9 `; m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- W$ M+ a0 g x3 P6 B
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! f* X% d! r& Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want m% U8 c9 V* } j2 i8 _
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
+ C0 j8 S) n' A! i3 ~% h* jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- {$ r8 m) ~. }3 _. A( H5 X3 nare spaces.) I- ]" ]4 M; i1 W3 R
; t0 ?% Y u- h/ pThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ j9 A& `6 j* n" {6 ]
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& Y. {6 T0 l' H# g; ^! R
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 A/ u9 k; M. L: {7 b# B2 P40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 U/ N ^8 ~( y, [
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% q5 Y6 l6 h5 e4 W' r1 i# Zbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& E$ L+ R/ a# v/ y, i0 }; |
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 o( T9 p+ f9 ^; O+ T3 gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; m. }" ]1 e! |! S' U9 J1 fis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 @" f' t5 \1 n
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
