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
2 g+ M' b# K& h/ n/ V/ o: Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
0 Z% Z0 S2 x$ |9 C* i% s1 ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 S7 U- z; }& i! h! q* ~7 o3 o"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: s$ E! n& |; U2 W; V6 @+ Banswers to our pointed questions.) m0 E, n+ O/ p! u3 \
0 C& |0 u6 a# [7 t. L
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, D Y% l/ ~; w' C: w/ b9 S
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. n& C5 G {6 n* M; h9 u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 I/ b& \, i/ L0 v% S2 Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: Y+ ], g! Y% R$ c6 C) rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; i P4 P4 V1 i: hmedical schools.! H0 X* O- g* R. r1 _ O$ c
6 M' Z: X$ }4 V: ~, u& z# VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 R. o" Y' V3 }" t6 r8 Z& @$ d& D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. M! l, o4 {, b- U/ b$ E8 a8 Ito go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( L6 O" K% i# h" @- }, g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
2 s& \ Z$ \, s3 Q2 nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 k, q, d& ^6 y9 \over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 N8 D( ]% }: }: r ]; h9 @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
) d4 M+ d1 H# n! emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# C/ X2 c6 N* A0 Z8 t! _
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' V$ z$ D2 K5 h' t* b
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. _1 U% ~2 E1 J+ E8 `5 A! S" h
5 V. O4 G4 l- m, T# A8 ]
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. M7 G6 x7 I) v' K5 P- q* u( Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 H+ M" |, \# F8 g$ @supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
n- ] ?" \6 ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 X, e* u. s) m8 d* C Q0 ]. F# V$ [# q# l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
t( j2 T0 Y, dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
`+ k$ A6 [# Odivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
P9 @; X9 y- r6 r: @. Y2 [ kDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 e; _9 K& [6 Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 A% f& s! A ~
charge the fee defined by the state.
# w7 h( F/ d* X/ ]9 k/ _
) Y- A: A/ ]; V* W/ p& h: IThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 @* J' [3 e2 w+ u! u4 o4 won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ U" U: B$ B# ?) M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% B9 m/ _8 L! q' r9 \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- O: Q8 n5 J8 [" k3 e$ }
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" _; J+ r$ z. H: _' z+ p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 D: V% d/ V3 a4 k. W, P0 Yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
5 }' |. x4 j9 }- xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
3 T% c# ^' z+ q8 [& m2 ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 z2 g$ ?' T/ _7 e$ bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 ?' q0 [4 s) p' e6 Bpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" x" z" k( p& m5 T, G9 m8 Kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' X! l, N$ ?% B3 {% Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 [& ^6 l0 ]5 E4 kare spaces.( b' B, ]& R" L+ l
) @; @- l: i) v+ B" P) m5 P8 V5 I
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) }4 k9 `* s4 U# _+ f3 D; F; H3 oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& N" \1 Q1 p. f3 _: O8 v6 h
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 b8 _2 r. R# |; c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
Q N. y V' qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, K, \9 {1 c9 P0 u0 ~
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 c, W) U4 k! _# M! Snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' u% ~ G* A' W/ q1 icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 `+ T7 _2 w3 Z5 l8 W5 I1 q6 t" x+ }. [" I
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" x( q* n5 S; V8 T We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
