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& A6 i* j8 G4 N, ~8 I" _# k0 s
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" J s' v$ s" M6 i. T' W% F$ Z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 [: p. j( C8 v, K) A% o0 l! q3 \4 k
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 j0 r+ {& Q3 qanswers to our pointed questions.
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; @. z8 L) `- c9 xThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 @# V" t! N. n; l" }0 z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: S0 p# ?1 S! u- Xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
8 V2 A M& S9 @" V1 Ffree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% @3 x- ?2 \. f! W1 @
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 r/ M" H e. N0 D( ?0 A
medical schools.- j$ l: n0 t8 I
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the& _, g* U4 b, g6 }: W
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; P+ [, h$ q& a( A) w
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ k9 ]+ z$ i- v. a8 k/ b, T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 a8 H' R6 C* Z' {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ |; z& o7 G) q/ C% c* `, {
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 B# m0 p; a( n5 z4 @% ?$ O
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 D% t* A1 U1 i' `3 J* v
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% L3 ~7 Y) }( R! P. X, s1 r. x
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 e' R5 D; m! lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." l/ ]* ?5 V! Q9 A
1 d# A0 l7 W4 z! ?* Q8 |% {The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 P0 C0 c# ^1 \) L5 a# h
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
' W Q$ j# ]( r/ ~supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) N" n1 O6 ?0 e7 P; o% B
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 [% f% i+ ~! y0 X3 J. h
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' {5 q- e" T0 C |" Y* O$ K3 T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# E$ z' a4 _- `) m% c+ Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 n, H/ |0 U% a) j" FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) o0 f* F6 B ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ x$ f$ F' f# E) B* o* J1 b3 v( X
charge the fee defined by the state.. V) A/ e* @# W- m! a7 u7 F; j
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
! f% J; B- Y' P( Ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# G# Y! o+ X+ ?' ^6 M7 i6 m2 Bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& F) ^# H- g, f0 t' t1 Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" F: c3 q5 s0 g% S* Z* _) f" ?seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: H' N# L: _7 ?' Y$ _4 t
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 k. Y3 [; F7 ?6 o! y" H
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, F" n1 o! ~' S$ ~4 J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 O5 O7 |# x2 `9 ]
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, c7 c# O. O$ M6 G
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* w( F7 [; B8 y/ Y9 N1 ~4 w7 S i/ P
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ @5 \$ j( O5 ^5 w( Q& Wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 V- u4 x, q" l% Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 M. j! } H5 O) |# R% I& Y
are spaces.; s* P! d# ?5 ~/ D, o/ r
; h' t* h" Y4 y# u/ M9 qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! ~: b: }5 y" e* I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 D" A8 p& G% d6 b3 R- j1 R1 a, z4 `own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the9 Q, A2 t' x" N! m) y, {8 v3 S
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' _ K% e) o+ z; Y. D6 eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 `" e" H' j2 G- u# w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; |# [2 V( c* I2 E5 ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 V& V% P. M# q) ]/ Y; `
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 W% f* Z7 d; K6 w7 B
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! Y) M+ [/ S7 s$ O/ `; x. N We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
