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& a+ M% S: l0 _7 H
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 f( y% j* ?0 O0 ^/ G/ c+ ?! Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,7 u }$ v8 Q& b" B) \4 {3 _" _4 \
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# Z1 B3 n3 x4 u9 Lanswers to our pointed questions.
9 y4 F# p0 ?8 [5 k4 }5 R, V* A& |
+ E9 _9 U2 Z2 n! `$ F* pThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' z8 T$ g0 z+ A- H45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" R+ T, S5 t" p7 s" O" dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# m3 u) e$ H2 z7 @, c) R
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 h) S# q4 A' d6 f' c: x3 c
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 ^4 G5 W" L3 R6 U) i
medical schools.
" I! Q1 c; X1 i# R6 K8 D1 R5 s+ E. s; U g0 C
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) g8 S# Z# X3 Q6 A7 c# a, P* cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) V" j& q4 Y+ \ s8 g7 eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& l4 ~! J2 v: {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 h" A% G* ?8 D: fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' o; v4 V9 J" i7 n* E4 `# B( jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 l2 M# [2 N- n8 c6 t0 R6 i. d Zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; m6 p0 ~8 D4 P8 \8 {) }( `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; Y) h" l7 j! t+ B$ Q l% Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% ]7 c8 P( T9 d: I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 b: C( W( Z' w& d8 [% u4 v0 I
) C k2 r1 [2 `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& Q/ w* B5 l$ W4 q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" G; \# N$ Z3 o8 ?1 a( ^! _+ c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) j& X) D. \; c6 c5 A! h3 Whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good y1 h/ D* z" H) o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" D( n& |- I; U( ~6 d
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# Z( e5 X: M( d5 qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ B s/ v4 H. }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When3 H$ Q* S' Y3 e3 q! R( w
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% g1 s9 p7 {6 P" k D _
charge the fee defined by the state.
% C1 N0 D! @- N7 M- b; q4 a0 F. w, z7 @
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get5 N6 V" `' c/ q V
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ E) B# o- Y- D# q( I3 R6 }. V9 \3 y. m
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big/ | R7 q' f6 H% K
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 x8 O/ D: A& w* w* c
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" L, @; S {) ]9 X: s* Mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 Z, M& _" e5 D! f$ H7 \6 l8 Y6 }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 d9 R3 O0 X5 J; N, E0 |1 t3 n. ?& J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 i- M* k+ _* K4 Z8 ], o
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 Z0 f$ U4 j9 B+ N: e0 E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ f: a. C/ d# Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% p5 v. x2 ~1 G; d7 h" |/ T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: G) u/ O+ y3 o$ q2 C8 m; V" Mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. R! j, P2 H* F# ^are spaces.
- @# e% J' X# A E. X& k
, o, w5 z2 ~! K6 ]There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) P+ F1 v1 g" ^8 yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 w' H# U- k5 u/ g2 n( B9 n- \' Vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# |7 D6 ^/ g7 V5 ]+ |) X2 o40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
" Z" z, S T3 Y4 D t- u: rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ a! B: n( `0 w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
i3 J) o: h* Z2 |# d& \. Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! }2 F/ v6 B9 a, O! Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, p0 v3 ~8 V" f ^; `3 T5 ^( his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 r, n- d& o6 z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
