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
% \- l; V9 ~4 mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 L) w+ Y) f/ z0 ?# Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 c3 H* d! _& s' c6 r; U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 ?: Y( S" M" j7 A+ X
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 Y) a% @9 p7 P* f5 ]. T, |7 y1 l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
" E! S q& [5 Z' g C! R) Zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" {3 N3 Y4 g6 s' E
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: [# X2 A. y3 g7 W* Q- c; b% ~' gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 Y) L; ?) u k- a6 w7 p+ Q6 o) y7 imedical schools.
V4 m' N0 M/ {) c4 o/ o5 \$ o% X$ d3 e, ?
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
8 r+ o: }2 s& F Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' |+ O3 k, m r( a+ A. ~0 d* yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 u5 ^+ i6 {1 l3 z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 x6 m3 o+ m7 Q$ C0 t& j; {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' o- ?! F- @6 Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 }6 ? e8 \/ }' h3 |; P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 U3 [8 b- j9 a$ E
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; {) e2 O# ~0 l4 b6 w. yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 P9 h4 `# {2 d5 z' \+ h& e
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! q% d8 n' I! Q& T' ?7 X3 F
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 D# D4 ~% ]5 \' }6 c( j
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& |! S; w1 ^* H8 D6 p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 ?6 w+ _3 m( K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good3 C Q' Q; T" N D( |& k+ J$ `
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ e' P# w8 ]9 m9 Y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 Y9 e( R( H/ K1 F. w
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ A- g) f" c$ f! V
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 f* _# x ~. z/ g; h m9 Y! r8 h
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% N. d: `' a% D% F; g+ dcharge the fee defined by the state.1 w3 l, s5 ~% Q$ I R# n
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 H! M5 E3 l8 N
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 ~. J) F3 {/ D
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* M \8 y" L6 F5 G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ s9 ?4 ]2 P5 ~3 x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! q2 [% y- v5 Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: @+ q! K1 ^3 `
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! _& b: d& R5 u: x9 c b/ s( l- Y8 v0 Yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" c1 l" f& M% R$ T" `
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ v; b4 g) J9 w- c. @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 a3 E3 U7 ?: ^, y: Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 w: B& [! A1 }* Q$ s hto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or. Z4 o7 W c% \$ Q0 e& z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 g8 V% D- \9 R% C1 z4 G: J4 ]1 S# zare spaces./ r2 O0 ]1 E& s1 F6 Z& X
3 ^, J8 y% Y0 s8 |% t3 r9 IThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 G" u, k7 S' ~$ F) L
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they8 b! ]2 |: N z$ U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 I7 ~$ d" S* Y7 c
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ z& x4 w; Q" @; w
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the; a' {5 S9 A6 w O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! V8 E# @% ~$ z, F' T+ G) ]& fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% T* \$ r) i8 Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& v- a* K2 J/ b: G8 O# L6 E$ b
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 u2 W# {% j( G
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
