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( Y1 c O4 ~/ @! G5 m: D$ o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% A8 Q/ u1 J* Q: v% D- A0 A& x) J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) ^$ f4 H) P( a2 B; a0 G3 J$ U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% P/ Q0 y7 r, U. ]2 v$ Qanswers to our pointed questions.
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/ y: v! _3 z4 o( z% d. s9 `3 S, @0 IThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 s- E% u- X2 g* F+ L h' N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- F3 h" m6 v' Q! ]/ \+ p8 {3 S, U
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 T% ?' P' _" c( |* w* lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" }4 K" o X x _+ u- ?, ?8 n. e
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, U: L: q7 Y1 ~8 N( S' l0 B6 K) Emedical schools.) F" Z2 j/ p, y. Y2 g$ X2 }& W, ]. _
6 J- q* |9 x3 {" T$ L* F2 lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- {; H8 J- G9 E( R1 ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( c( D/ W* v# H0 g+ ~ Tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, g- k' c# N! J+ N
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% y/ P$ I# t6 o; w5 Xis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 H! B1 G: l+ C! B& [8 C( T+ sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ x1 k) u( n4 ^ Gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- |4 D0 O1 G' `9 h& Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 M& U; l3 F( b/ i2 b0 s
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 m# p# Z8 b( Q0 g$ M4 D/ J3 t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& {" F( l, m* ~* v' w+ n) |
; J$ L) X u! m; w S" m4 zThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( G5 Z8 N* h1 Qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' {% L( t/ j' M; `& u% a7 F
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# Y7 Z! K, x3 @2 n
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* I3 O$ j, P/ J0 x) g
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) z q8 L4 f2 y. E' Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) F. Y5 P$ S; ~! b8 v* }divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. i7 t. k4 ]) H
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 e2 r R) I/ h8 m0 j) X' l+ sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% z; D1 @+ |6 n$ U* \) G, |
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 \ [: T- f. y: U2 Y4 Kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
- E* E$ a4 F3 A1 t# t rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- i* M1 u1 x9 c8 [: E8 [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% q" ~, H8 \7 f+ w) Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the% {0 `5 B3 x2 ^# g' p- U4 Q# G+ Y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, a! ]# _( x( L: Nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' W B' k' ^" Z7 x8 U" }! t3 cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* I. c3 x7 I& U/ R0 Y! f" q% ] p, L
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 N% n1 s3 ^8 mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# g ]* Q7 W6 s' R# I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% V% m, t) w1 D0 q2 B. B% }' K2 m
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 Q" {4 i0 q' `' L% E9 p5 o
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
% S4 p5 c7 P7 t+ M, b! h7 Kare spaces.4 G7 x6 f$ `+ S3 Z. ~+ S
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 T. @( u9 F! \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 F5 L' q5 J7 L5 d3 J: ]0 O6 Mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' z! `. g# s) O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 T8 H) H2 v9 v$ V( U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" l, a( X/ Q/ b7 k1 y& f1 ~9 U. \7 ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, r8 @- v- y. g" n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 h H+ B2 a% c$ q$ M0 O& V! d6 y3 Scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 A) T f( B r& M, x# h6 k" f! }4 |7 R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ V* r) }; ?3 s6 {8 ?+ G, [$ o* ? We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
