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$ C0 {: B2 f" c7 I* M* e2 K
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 y0 b7 J) z* Q5 @: ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 l' y9 M( T$ Q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) Q) F5 X7 p5 k/ s( Vanswers to our pointed questions.
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" a7 S3 b3 I7 f1 s1 G7 D Y9 ^$ f( ?The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& N8 Q4 u; W1 h1 D2 a5 P
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ O) ` z0 i2 ]. A9 d$ r& {0 c9 d$ I
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is' _9 }. R# P0 o
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 Z' f E$ S* I' e- Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( Y" ^. d) p0 J, b- nmedical schools.
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, A* k) R, @5 ^, j) [8 K* V9 WEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( w6 m+ Z* M+ R) N; [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! ?* [/ S- g/ A& B4 F" Dto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 T7 X5 S) }5 H4 {; o8 p
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 I! w' S/ Z$ @7 F1 z5 w0 j& q) d
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 Y" |; Q% m. y8 \
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" _" o2 x$ n, [2 h2 m ]seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 r7 M& x v2 n: }! `# S2 umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 Q6 Y5 Y. j% K, D' l
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! c2 f6 B* @8 X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 {1 d0 u2 Z; m) @
# |5 u0 i* l2 ^& T0 jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 s& v; F5 `* F6 w/ m) Wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- ?: F) }7 ?7 P$ I) ?supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" T4 `/ `7 T& L& yhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# b" R s- N8 R2 H2 O! s6 h$ w. Sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! h+ E. A4 D% a. F$ g$ ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! Y3 e* k4 w* [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.7 K' F& W: U) ?! ` G4 n4 J) x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- o: z1 q9 G- O7 e- A& ?- `# v
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& ~/ c! Q6 P' X8 q9 C# g0 echarge the fee defined by the state.
1 k/ R) i. }! F9 q: J5 B0 \$ h; u S, r; p8 x3 E* m/ R' o
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 o6 Q1 K8 G6 a: C# [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 p/ S/ R, ]. g1 S0 w+ [of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: v! g0 D5 n; A( @6 Jtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
& U$ V( _' o; @2 C. A- a' [seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( D2 z% r0 Y: |
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- \0 t0 L1 [( S+ X* H9 w; U1 Rschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 j0 V' x9 X% D5 k% wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- r7 i* t+ \4 ]3 z9 o$ f a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
6 H* `9 r/ W7 ~8 R" J: ghiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* g. }7 u. S2 e+ D2 C/ X0 Ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; ^. P2 Y$ [$ L! G6 l
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
( ?9 c) p4 j4 u( L* K1 D3 z' E' zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there" | I" d& \6 S" R; z
are spaces., W {- b" c, z
/ e# @& G: A* @+ c& Z" sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; u5 u% M# i: S7 P3 sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
t5 x2 N( c5 w+ cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ z0 ] v" A5 ^
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 A% F8 e/ ~( Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( P5 K P/ f9 R: A
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
: v' M, V5 n4 knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
- @' z* A, ~* c7 Q6 {; Ocar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 k7 ^: L+ ^ T# S+ |is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 W) @1 ^* W1 }9 ^. D- w We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
