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- s' i& n f+ d3 q+ ]8 o8 s
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 @7 F7 [% I8 L4 d& M0 C6 @& f" J3 u3 Q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; S2 Z5 C/ ~: ]# g1 Q( f. |% g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: S5 a# H' `$ a0 s1 ^* e
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 v# U" X# J" c' Z; {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 P8 d, ^; h" F0 K% [* e
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. q0 C* J* u! F; y3 }2 ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ x) R9 t# Y" i* i- H0 s/ nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 J2 w# N; y# W2 u2 `
medical schools.
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3 c& G. ^' G% J6 p# w V- K8 p! P, OEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 { d& A8 {# D& @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 c1 ?/ D" j9 |( G! y; ~7 f0 zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% U# s' i2 g* t( B4 A# L" |* V0 D
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 E3 F8 m& Z8 E" pis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ h* l5 K! R% k' X' V9 Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ E% Z" D# f/ d3 Vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 e4 r% o: |+ r l7 i0 C9 Q2 j) Ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 X" x3 E% s/ v' o! s# I1 v. i
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! A2 c- t1 {0 @$ ~2 d6 t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.; Z" F2 n$ w3 ]5 E) n
3 K$ P; @( C6 l( D/ F& HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no M) |& k, Z8 Y7 y: N) y# J
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, z/ S' `8 q& I9 c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
r# X/ F' A& \: Bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 f# S0 ^3 ]/ F. Y& w7 e6 U vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 z. Q, T" O- ?2 I% x6 t
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# X% `- c- O* n% p8 Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 s) M8 H( ~9 _9 Y9 LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; r6 F5 \5 B: Va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 \0 `. k* z& U% ~- N, Pcharge the fee defined by the state.1 y) ?9 F9 ~+ T9 A8 ?% n
" g) q5 i8 t4 q% qThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( r/ x& u4 {* K2 B1 G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* v; x# X6 H/ Gof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( T% g+ P* \" e) y6 M& m* V9 W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 e/ j, i! H, {# X* K( ? h" Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 w4 @$ b2 F9 d) r$ n2 y5 m
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! u( ]2 N9 Y& j& f% e, x* O1 D, p. hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 ?/ H4 a- H: ^# Z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# d0 a% }# k+ X6 ~( @0 d) s! e
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. X; y2 V# F' M" p' a0 ^4 lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 K9 R, ^- x% c+ _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) i% T8 g+ h7 N# P' u5 Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ p2 m g: \ R. b$ R0 Sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 ~8 \9 f2 C" J; L6 F% q) W: C9 y4 ]are spaces.0 g3 c$ d; ` D8 n2 F9 i! @
8 W7 }% \- ^, V* e: _1 ~" ^There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 n8 z: K+ Z5 c1 v: d" l0 |' h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 R0 _! Q4 F3 u' H6 l# a& Lown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
z. x$ Y) w" e: C9 r2 H40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different U4 ?2 `/ m- [
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 O1 P, Q: L4 ~; n$ n% z- j1 Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 L$ b/ Z$ O% `$ J& H3 Inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 L) i$ n% T7 y/ n" c4 t8 m: s( H
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" v3 t8 h7 t+ d) {is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ A0 r' Y6 r) \) E. s3 { We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
