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
5 h7 v' X' K: D* l7 N/ jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 @/ m# S! U, v4 x& | E3 c. F
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 @7 i8 U/ I8 x1 z4 G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 u6 I/ s% n$ L6 |; s0 D& b
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: h7 d5 W" R4 {1 ?
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 e% d4 ]; x% X' H) z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 Q8 X; B/ ]5 i; L) [free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( f& e9 z/ i6 @6 s, L r* I0 W9 zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& Q7 s, @2 ], N0 z* Gmedical schools., t4 r& K7 w: i
' Z; ]% `- V. pEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ R) b. |7 b- Y: L" A. agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: J+ s. q7 Q& y3 J" C
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years m. u; b% R. ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& ?! r4 g( ^; T" O, Bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# c3 v7 B: X$ _' ^" d! M* x
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ ^# F2 T: a/ {7 L6 |0 M
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: `- ~) [2 B1 d+ n) K$ L3 `
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* E- ?. Z3 y7 u V4 bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
# Y4 d$ w" }3 |* u; y4 U! Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 `# R/ e( z5 V
; }8 k; V' K! A m7 a8 w" yThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
% J$ d% }: P& i+ p# t( m1 S- |private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ q4 V: J) b+ P, |6 p% O$ p9 Y' Fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ v, s3 F( _) P# g, M) T- k1 K3 yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 x5 {6 S9 Y& ?) H) b: n
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. D7 L* P) z# r. ^6 P( _6 _# Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 {, s" v- Y# S7 W0 Y+ ~divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 G/ `9 S4 W' I; H2 ~) @7 ^$ qDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 f8 v7 m1 o, W$ |1 sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 Z1 v+ h: J9 }! z( d- g1 Ccharge the fee defined by the state.# D) ], |! o' h) b* n
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" Z$ O6 H; o1 \. t) g6 s+ Xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 i- E2 Y/ R9 f0 Q( a4 Mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: A- j2 A+ f7 s9 K7 B# W7 I# H
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, t3 W% _) _. Q. t: {3 w4 y1 e$ U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" [" n, b% P S0 V" S% a% \' I# e
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( g' J7 P% L. Gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# H, A! |2 N5 {2 D* `7 hyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' C+ L- s/ T, [, Q- ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 r) C8 X3 {4 t' k4 T
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 a3 Y' p9 F+ Y1 J$ H+ Z' zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# ?7 Y1 I: u% f8 i- J* H2 Q4 z* p2 [to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" c5 m5 n; `1 P5 Q0 M, J6 Lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# n! _( c7 {# n: Z" l+ a
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, T7 [0 s7 o4 w& V
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ t# i5 w3 }5 ^, s
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& {4 G# Z) v4 k( R8 B g" E40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 t) f9 F2 r9 Eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) o4 e; J' E( t/ ~! ^( _" Kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% u5 \$ K( z% ?/ cnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- I; w: ^2 l- V8 ^: _
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( }- s+ m( h x: y: m
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
4 r2 S/ {& l7 z" L, E( Y We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
