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' h5 } ^* q! O) Y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) x/ B4 K7 I3 |0 f9 D4 f7 T
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) @$ O4 ~" b+ U; Q% O5 ~" N"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. X. B+ j! j3 L( S4 s
answers to our pointed questions.
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4 P3 r, @" f: U9 ]# VThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 B$ [0 L& o F1 l3 ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: b* A p4 C8 D1 V1 }2 f7 {( nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; a8 ^3 n* u8 t9 d2 C [6 {
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ t/ o7 c' V2 bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ g n) \$ p) C( @- _" }medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ u/ p3 H$ @+ b9 x3 u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 i. q; k' I0 J8 S2 d Oto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 m; F1 c# w: R# ?+ S [9 H- Zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 Y+ M9 g; }: B9 k1 {' x f
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' }/ a- v0 h& j; W! @3 bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ K. F4 q+ s3 w/ z% L! Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 G% E- W& v4 z# ~2 O2 Q. Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. ^+ s G" |. X" ?; `* E: e2 q+ B% R
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 j/ V f2 C- e+ e2 ]: j
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., q" T1 X% O% m2 ^: [
- y. P! {! U0 [# Y7 a7 a9 {The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- _& e6 u- }. p# g' f: c9 [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ c9 T6 U" [3 w* a7 }) _- v5 @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. y t$ O0 [- e6 D9 D7 Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) Y1 l, F: t$ x5 t: W% S% Tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% Y! }( |7 Y! b/ Q) u X: i+ p6 G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. k- T, e. a! e( n; H
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. Z' s; {7 l3 j
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# W) W: k* Q* p; Y, e. ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 R! n& |/ K; G V: X
charge the fee defined by the state.+ F* B, o8 L4 y$ x; U. K% K& Z' |
; {' u+ W2 @% `# ?) v. Y+ b' ~. oThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' T* M: r4 X9 z, h) q0 Y# c# L
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 E; h+ N/ g( k0 S% ^5 O9 H# z$ {of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 M- N) l$ R8 I2 M+ {# Atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 H( [8 q% K* R1 x$ D) |) c! J7 C
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- h6 b: S7 r' _6 ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: `8 C: z' @3 t) {' A
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" B2 c$ v6 V' X, I p8 Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! a$ _9 U4 G; d9 ^0 z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 |& k* Q" D4 w0 W Y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that1 ~% }( C, K0 p$ A+ s7 e0 \/ E
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
. _% X3 [! Z5 r& b1 J Oto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! n- a6 Y+ H6 r
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there" y6 a# l( E9 R$ D8 V0 H
are spaces.
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8 `- E& F0 ]$ p E6 LThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* f* I" q1 }5 Z* h6 Q' |
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 y0 t+ Y0 _* Q2 ?5 K0 X0 N
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, H, `$ ~6 I; O2 i0 g
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 h* h. [! M' P0 O! N2 nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# R' Z- Z) D }5 E: \# {best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; k" ]* e( a8 h+ ~& T& S, {2 M, y8 Q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
9 `- {# l' j6 k c8 {. o- ^car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. D- D4 I7 v" V+ T* g* Sis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 I9 p+ v% O- b, H We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
