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
. g& C- u1 ?8 R7 F& g. ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ u0 W( c+ _1 c6 w" h* E. @" g+ Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ [: X. G) B% d" d
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 ~, B4 d7 U* N
answers to our pointed questions.4 ]" G& O- p# l* h! @4 p$ L
2 M1 |$ \4 {5 h' y6 K/ m9 E `The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( X0 @/ w) `: u% R" g7 s) {/ z# V
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ ]; L C9 F1 m _7 Yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- _$ z- `: m% l0 A1 X
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! r% k$ s+ r, l& |5 p8 uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 D3 p k" `" |. K: n/ g2 @2 ~
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 L! J6 [/ p- \: i' f8 [8 W( n- R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants2 m& G2 |- Q1 e: }% H0 @5 g
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ U) K% T2 y% I. E( M8 @6 v) n; Q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
: u" g$ J) ^( T: d. \5 B( kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 A9 M: l* r! I+ Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 f m! W m2 R
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. X I5 ~6 b$ u6 I c( t
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' ^ J3 `9 l( Q$ [3 }& h
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' f' R% D3 k- e8 |0 D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 l. ?% U% M. \' p) A( v3 L
; C' M! q7 Z. e; |( v: _, h6 KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 W6 Q; O% B# ]$ M7 Gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
' R7 N, y% P% j& Msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) w% z9 k7 D G) h/ s. d
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; F3 P9 k$ T7 z; F$ F z8 Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
1 X% } N8 q- lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 k6 V( W4 j1 @! `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& E3 u. j: O. L, y/ w, u& Q! TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& x: N/ f# L- {, s0 [8 i
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 k) t. p; z* g% |7 `# ncharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" B$ x0 \# Z2 \! y! ]% ^$ B# a) Gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 A# [% u% o9 t, b* [# F
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* A* r: c) Z( U' itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 ` X3 m$ O7 j% n# I! {" Useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 p/ f/ u+ \; Q+ {; Q0 \# H8 T% l
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! i- x& n: B s7 m }( \& Kschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 b& {+ \* P- R# O0 q6 ~: l5 `. ?) [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 v) p( q* _* G' `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
, L# Q0 F- v$ N" `/ n1 khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" l3 z2 u+ E% e2 ~: v$ @. gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: X% K! G t4 S: O4 O/ i" ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 d) d' ^0 D1 D5 t0 ~/ r0 m. z4 {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) ]) q4 M4 c2 tare spaces.; l `. w% z+ E5 ?4 }% C, c
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. O* o5 V% G; I+ E) p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 g/ Z7 K3 ^0 u' ]4 Z1 Z3 S3 P# v+ \own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 I2 E3 e5 G6 D: x( ~5 @/ m' k5 N40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 B0 b* ^5 f4 k2 r- S3 ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. U; Q% v q, g+ ]& H
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
9 m f; E2 H) x8 F- } Lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 h5 z* n0 k! {7 Z
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it# n- C1 ?; z3 Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ _1 }# Z. _8 T! x. A6 k We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
