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
c5 H6 l$ h' U: hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. D m9 D2 p8 S; i0 N* f* z+ zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 N5 B( [3 d! L1 d3 I"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& z/ _0 @; T# a$ a) _answers to our pointed questions.
+ U8 f( H# E8 Q) ?& z; _' I
& \1 E, y( K' m' c( `8 OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 y- n% u+ a' ^" F- X6 [45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 r- I2 w7 O) ?. q2 F9 dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 s ^% Z" c. {! T+ g2 w# ?
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- m) c+ b$ Y8 ~- P, N- X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 f7 P( ]+ j+ t0 P9 N' ]% Omedical schools.( k5 E5 j, e" m- J4 h4 W2 n
; W9 j( o! Z/ J; a6 l/ w
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# w" S0 ~7 O6 i$ b7 h$ U$ x" r
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
d5 |! {+ y# u9 ~to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 f* R1 d8 ~3 |3 @8 g- T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ k2 n' E% b+ R* R; Y8 C/ ]) R3 |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 V5 e. \; x" z& Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* D8 `& f$ B- A, d/ v: z5 S) G
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. ]' C; m2 \& i7 ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 e) m, `$ ~: e( f2 j* W8 l
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 l6 \% }. U! ]' |sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
: X) C' K0 M* W# i% r
7 G" A7 R- U* V; h) Y7 AThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ p. V- n* y: `% T7 G, V8 t
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 t, t1 y. B- Z) p5 b! E0 ]5 lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 V5 J% L$ f" A& w& O& D& U* P
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 E7 J$ Q! K5 t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 {% B! \9 b% i( H+ ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 ?; _2 ]6 Y3 K5 |7 j1 y# `/ bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 M( b* Q5 h0 y, U, ^6 [. UDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 ?% k: N( c0 P) I) A. g3 k" y1 O
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. u) {( g! q& e& ^
charge the fee defined by the state.
/ C3 v$ s, c: |$ X5 b: ^/ v! A& ^! s: b# Z
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 Z* E* q: t- m4 A2 n& b6 Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 x* B8 L2 A" H) C; O3 {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% |, g6 L: O% |& i; htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- S" \1 `! ^3 B, X2 c9 P5 P4 S
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- D! H: \0 Z; h
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 C, C/ u8 j- C5 |8 z0 ]' r
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 \2 C0 f8 D3 E3 |% T8 @& a. [0 h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
# L* o' z, _: v9 ?! vtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* H! B& q+ p1 m. b$ s" q' e" dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- @9 B) b& H- @7 H6 z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: O1 S' G! r0 b* r# |" a6 Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 [) }% q- B8 h) L) {" s
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 b8 o3 W' |0 I- _* g% g
are spaces.
# v0 x8 M$ Y1 O( _
7 P3 h# D; D8 a* Y9 F. M6 MThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% G3 {2 _0 t$ g0 B& d9 Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 J3 N5 G# l0 D4 y7 w. }6 wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 }4 W q/ |( G4 U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% {* E; |, f6 G4 o2 fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
N1 L" P. H5 ^/ V+ Qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- ~7 w$ a4 o* Q/ v* k/ s+ O% v; w
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of! s" }7 t/ ~+ G! `- i& S
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 v+ s$ Z- E+ Z7 ~9 C3 h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 r: M9 }: e0 h: W, i7 B6 m
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
