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
$ L' V% Z: o E; P8 C- qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
8 h+ ]$ Y/ \4 k$ v; ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
. V* _+ s, W3 Z# D! c+ m5 J3 [* w"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( U$ U( w4 `" V1 f9 Q P2 janswers to our pointed questions./ n" c! Y, N3 B8 a+ I8 m' x
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( H$ M8 X; M. Z J, Z6 h" [: ]3 {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ @5 l$ @9 S" v" k8 [0 H4 T6 m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
A$ L1 h, f9 x( ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% P* S7 g: K( D0 `! r4 ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" i: Q7 y0 K6 {
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ l+ _& C, z# M$ ^4 z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 |5 L- k; B3 J1 J+ l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- J, l# w& N! s# @assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* @8 ]5 S) u- i; bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 h9 ?. ^0 n- O7 S5 jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& S- y1 g# y/ B7 ?7 v' kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ c1 }: M- f! I$ O/ kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 h X- l, q& b* `3 {6 }6 p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; E" K+ w$ T; X- R& c3 csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, X- p$ R# z. K: N( ?) f' {The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no: I e* k# C) D, x! G/ ~& ]# x" n
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 M2 F7 n4 [% {3 [- h9 g6 A1 i0 U1 N
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 y, S2 _ w2 W; U0 V/ jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 {/ h$ Y/ a( bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! r7 U- P. Y1 @) q! I+ xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 o; n i% @* n. \6 u; ^ M/ b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 a' E8 ~' _$ Y( ~' q. W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 V/ J1 u8 X- }- [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ R8 b4 t1 I0 B2 p+ r/ M
charge the fee defined by the state.
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+ a. O. R/ m, E4 |) \9 iThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 j Y. j" g7 l1 h# K, N
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 L/ q3 h( F9 K9 _7 s/ f* }. `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% Y1 o1 T# t5 V$ X
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 `3 ?" q# i* k9 p$ sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% O* R- N- J( L: x. ]1 Iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 k% w. g1 S, R! i$ P
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' y0 w# g" z7 g' K" M) ?! ]you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) O5 M+ A* U( [' a% h' s! u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch% P% B" U: D, @2 K
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
3 \- T$ }& V! w6 `9 [' Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) c+ J0 Z/ L& F6 l8 X J
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" A: [1 X& t8 Y0 r; @buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* k; |+ f1 W6 U# Z" j
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 s) P# o* v; W4 q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 b7 D5 Z" B4 ]; W/ v+ t6 b; gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 ?# `) p$ o' ] e, u* V40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 `$ @* y2 b4 m8 n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 s, o# c" q9 h3 p( ]5 \: L% Wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" f# @. y7 N# h1 k% I/ _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 i5 K( g" A* {" V. d) l; hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 ^- W5 O: ?" `$ v4 w0 yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., W) G( O( I9 K( _0 _; D# J
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
