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 t3 S5 J) p8 |( {. d9 ~
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 g$ Z1 `0 i% Z+ d* F$ O: S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
( E3 d* G2 T' ~4 I \' n6 J" ?"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give' o- i; g! \; P
answers to our pointed questions./ l6 y W1 Q5 T; x1 w" O
1 H: D T4 S; U( k2 X+ W# ]' @/ |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# E1 O C6 p& m- @& _! D45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 I, Y4 t. a- m3 s4 ^! T* O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 Q+ i7 K2 ~$ afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 R" Q) n# T, o7 j/ F- b9 nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are z# m5 c7 v6 F9 b8 f. C
medical schools.
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% w% E8 l$ Y5 _; K5 L4 v/ S6 uEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 H2 O* Q- S9 Y6 J$ V9 ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) F% t# _1 j3 Q2 Yto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 ^" `3 e. d# D# c* |1 h
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; H5 ?& ?+ D1 @is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, t3 y" l! Z6 F: Q2 _4 ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 [' [; c8 x# V- [- r4 `3 Jseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, l. M- l) Y. |' I% h6 r- Q3 k' e
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# P' E P# Q- _, c% t% _7 V% o* _
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 [% v* W% y9 I1 y8 c+ L9 esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 o5 v/ t2 G2 C/ U# F: h$ F
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% B( i2 d7 s! r* a6 S+ q) @
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 @0 L D z8 ]" h# W( l& o# x& Gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- G# X5 v" S* Q( U X, r! \
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
9 M. T7 c$ [# {+ U! E- c) t2 Pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 S7 W1 b( W- L8 i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 q+ `; Z9 h+ S0 }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" b0 n# C9 j' n! s& e" ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
- y! D! A7 V. P6 `% {: e. oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 v- F- ?! Z8 \3 s3 l& Ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
2 z* K$ B; R5 j0 q3 o: [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 ]* x) B+ {; H# D+ j0 L+ `+ {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
( z% A+ ~6 T7 Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
) l: n( t! z: @2 w0 f3 h9 {2 A* Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ A2 Z1 `2 l# y, |2 g( }/ U- N
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 t7 f Q/ j# M3 cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( Q- K: w0 I; D2 q4 R
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 }7 g0 k; w6 j/ z. q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. k/ k/ n( D+ D3 }9 P" A
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ A1 `& }1 {. T4 x( D3 g r7 S
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& F5 N% a/ F8 E8 @$ O# `1 j1 Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 Z- [4 V/ m1 c8 lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 G: `& N @9 A# L( c5 ^) B( k J0 N
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; g5 X) c) p oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) ^5 K/ p5 t& ]# j" cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# K; t6 Q2 P4 A
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: Z/ S" @* B" Y4 w1 Dparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 M- U0 u. m1 U2 ], m, Nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. e9 }( @0 c, _nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* b Q0 @: w$ a& [
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 F6 a( q2 G4 A, w0 sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ H; o8 W X: k; d5 a6 c( p
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
