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
7 b6 N" M) Y& ~, W' d& Cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went* J: M* u3 N; c) E/ J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) `6 O5 C' z' Z3 |0 N( ~7 M( l( u
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 X+ U0 B/ L* ^+ k! e. Lanswers to our pointed questions.7 Q8 O: H. p5 R* H( k
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 v. ]" j r6 X/ y* q. o3 C6 c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! C0 z! z4 K6 k1 A5 tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 P! T! Q- o) `/ ~7 S1 Sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' g7 F, z+ n3 z6 Y1 O. M, F- p
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
Z1 N$ a }; S; G2 nmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
4 b8 a5 I5 Y: U D8 I# ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 O$ v* n( b2 [# g) Z# N; ~2 J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" m+ @" P$ R5 ~assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% m. S4 y% M6 J- K
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
& U* A: ] P+ r: u2 \( W# p% N% ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, Y7 x) Y+ ^/ M' h! Q) @4 U! o" Y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
' k1 W. D! d' g8 z4 nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( }9 M% {$ z) w$ g- h* }* fshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) b: B% b: ?2 jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! u o4 I/ b( U9 e, D; v/ R
/ |# F3 {3 X' @) KThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
I/ ] Z0 E2 I% L" `& E% j0 Yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 z- e, t: E2 P: p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) C! P$ `5 b5 Fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ o7 V8 g6 C3 G x6 j# |& Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
* o$ K4 _: p1 P: esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- i! `" w3 v2 ]" o% j9 l3 @0 Q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% l, `. i8 S7 e3 T. V6 fDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: U3 E8 M/ h2 \9 {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only t; e$ E7 E! W- Y1 X
charge the fee defined by the state.# \& Y# N, e& \) j# J) H& }
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 S6 n# N, T/ \9 I) z1 gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- f- p) o$ `8 J% i5 e; F8 Y7 O: @
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 L! i: |7 f ^+ e c0 B* `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 M1 p, L, M& v, ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. K" O! O2 Q ]4 k4 v, J2 ^
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 P" M9 a( k5 E' ~2 b0 Mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 [' _" N+ Q/ n1 I9 E. e& a
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 E, Q/ ]6 T4 E! ]% ]( s2 [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# d6 p% B6 [- k3 uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 m( a' ?. O1 Y) Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ ^- q6 Q! q9 x& ?
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( {" Y0 }5 F: ]1 S7 u7 sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. P+ d5 u/ I- P( X
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ ?4 n. @4 e( {( }, N" Wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 C. I7 Y/ K' L _& K2 j
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; ]1 {+ K! r4 w. k. {! o4 _4 |3 ^40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- t2 W1 D# q9 Rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, X- ~5 T7 d2 _( H4 kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 v5 E& v6 a% N( S3 x/ Q- wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 \8 Q4 N+ i0 N2 Q
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
/ Z. {& w+ N: {. `7 ]9 nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ e# e1 { q4 E5 j; L6 G7 n We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
