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# U3 D+ j7 g% e3 p8 L
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 A. f _7 B! o% \; _$ {( E3 Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! ]. a |, F4 o) F! c6 m0 @8 K
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
5 ^% R/ U* o- B9 U6 E: Sanswers to our pointed questions.
' K% F( z* I% G0 T2 Q: T; x8 H* ~4 O1 o7 @9 D
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ D% f t" _0 G: r; j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 e% Q4 A3 B0 Y3 w' a0 b0 V( O! @
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. b) l! w- _' Cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ b% x& L+ {- g6 L
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' v6 s* x1 {( N$ n, G' ]% k
medical schools./ Q* j. {+ O. r- Z$ [1 P
+ }% i. B0 ?" BEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 d( V( V- j2 _# V7 d3 Vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 {0 T% A5 M- L4 s/ k' [0 E, Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 c% b- v! y+ U5 eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( q; F: j: W; N. b
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; _7 s9 ^% Y' i* y# S y% q& c4 ^
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
F2 u' a. Z8 n% lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and K" X2 h, R E* h% u& z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) ~6 f+ l% P" ?- F) gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ D. q" s( }+ @2 |3 Usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., d+ l6 O+ R9 Z2 y: M$ v8 q
5 i) b: G {6 r: t5 _# ^The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# ]# G' S; I1 A# L; R: b
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: \6 r+ T* f; W5 Y# v! usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! @2 [* ?! H5 v- C7 x* m: Hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; H' j0 F0 W. g jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 ^6 X5 J1 p5 G5 b7 I8 ~* O4 L
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" n7 |. Z! f& L5 A$ s
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 W3 t! ~/ O7 z; i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 }8 q4 W9 Q5 a6 Q @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 F: i3 Y+ G$ D7 o; Kcharge the fee defined by the state.$ L4 C& \& Y1 n) A, X9 L, l
% n W2 b5 o0 l: X
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( b; K; O; n* bon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ A/ h# o4 x) b b5 d! I
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: m! M9 q- C3 a5 n2 s/ r( W1 ]truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 u, E" v" M+ R( l2 N0 Dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 ^' l8 `: \! t% L u* A+ G2 Wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 B+ M9 V& m/ z1 V% F+ A
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! X! p0 Z$ `: z0 E- O$ u
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, h: L( C/ J( b: Atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 x) I; N, E; Y- |' s) _6 j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 i( h7 {( `! ]; ypeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- f' b5 J; d$ ^' f
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 C/ a2 L& B8 U( ]: v8 S
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 W2 j, e) M* x u9 m. C9 Y
are spaces.0 I8 q' c# z3 ?& A. A
1 m4 e% x8 B* E5 r* b, f: e5 E4 W
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 s( U- r: g, }7 O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they Y+ G; g' K* ~0 v( U a6 D
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ ^2 E4 G1 y4 ^) j# X
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different i* n" B) |& z# M
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' }2 j5 G: {8 C. ^6 Xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* \) N3 v- x% X. P1 X! f/ dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& r8 d; y, e. r, j0 P) r: z, e1 Q# fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' Y. \) }3 Z1 u7 l' c I+ ]# F. g8 t; ]
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* ?" |! g3 P* j( G
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
