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
# g3 H1 c2 P+ l- m# }" H! i4 E: \standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
$ P0 w/ i7 t* m6 t/ D. }4 Won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, y. B, q, g0 }, a) p
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
- f& [/ K# S4 C! G, f% V/ y) @: ]$ \answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, Z& j, Q7 `5 |8 b8 d
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ I/ L! Q) x0 L- Q: _7 ?0 Y9 D! _7 zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ W/ X8 m' i" ?& Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 i X% T+ |' m* u3 y7 f T# uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( K4 ]" B% A( t, {+ j6 P. vmedical schools.: `# }$ [; ]3 ]# D3 a' j
5 k- S0 q( I0 U! u$ u: PEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 c( t* z: [' d: w% p
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- D* w) p- y6 `. s5 x9 N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& Y. b' ]. a5 Uassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ d" k1 T+ F' f, U& S6 y% F. h/ I/ _8 y
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 N2 i$ i( H7 _' Tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
3 V( i! d# w8 b1 g: Gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ j( L( p1 m( U7 ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk, }1 K: V8 y5 D' h6 D$ @: k" [: W
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some k P- v, T; r( d) I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. ]2 v) ?; `& i# k, E' u5 O+ \
6 P9 N* {7 x4 I/ M" x1 n, Z$ U% EThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ @+ f( {0 s. w: C: l3 s
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% ]9 s9 t4 w0 |* \% C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" @$ h5 `/ W+ m0 Z, m& r: h6 q$ u
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ p# ]! x7 k6 t+ r7 {thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# I: a q7 e! h! |7 [: w
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: g( Y+ t" W( X3 @
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 g2 f6 Z: I1 h% R5 Z0 e$ v
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" a- s1 \/ K" b6 q- i2 da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only: z# ?/ M+ C) D+ e7 }
charge the fee defined by the state.5 n b+ n2 Z+ o# c+ x
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 [' R$ ]. Y2 x4 t! _
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" z* V. I Q F8 r) b
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' C! q2 a I( e9 K' htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 h5 G& x$ r& x( b9 Xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 X# P: Z4 F- j7 W3 p' G
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, a1 r# b( A8 E. K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 ?7 K8 l9 z3 n M1 p4 Y: v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 J9 o) q+ B/ N
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# F8 ?- q G+ y2 t8 {7 Zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: x& T$ f0 B1 A$ `3 o$ K% Dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 w3 r/ J' U3 h$ b# J: Z& M* P
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 |* i+ Z1 d7 f" g! cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. f4 z! O q1 H& {8 g7 mare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# G* M' c6 X& y+ Y! Nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 a6 Y0 c" u/ F$ j Eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ C1 {. w" r- ?* N# Q- v6 t }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: e6 n+ _7 G/ e/ n: [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. ]0 Q3 C% l2 ~0 J% ^" kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 p: H+ o0 x& C# G: t1 n% t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ W# R! T- X+ W- \ j/ E; z& ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 m; L9 ^+ Z6 \% o% W2 d( eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* U1 e. u% I! Z) Z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
