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
+ w2 w& p+ H( S: G* astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% W* j8 U0 f% q: R: `/ M0 Y& K
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 o+ l" f: v$ B0 B$ O2 E) k"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 w3 P% Q! H" \ @- M0 y" b$ zanswers to our pointed questions.3 C$ _* ^; Q' I# t y) d5 O+ X
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 J. P; u' c4 P- E8 I' R( N45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" n% Y2 w+ d J: T1 x( ^$ L
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; ^! w; P( n0 T0 `1 J+ `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ c; u$ V8 H) f: e- U4 t* O6 _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& u. V% m1 z% t! ?+ jmedical schools.
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/ u- n- _1 y! W$ ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( E) d$ R9 @0 @+ H/ X$ B3 c$ Y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- U# D. f' R* `. H$ Bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
c6 `1 C* G# j* eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- `' @* P9 `9 d8 Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* a4 E2 X6 k X/ j9 {
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' l+ B3 G- c" D- P: r
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
2 }# X5 { K5 h% nmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 g# @) o: B, |3 k. E# {% q+ `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some. B# `0 ], T, E0 v& D6 s( E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, f: t' S4 n1 D- n4 e3 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) D1 z, D5 k7 V9 rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' J# m# Q/ P6 B/ X+ H$ h2 thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ S" J$ E. W: C
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 O% v' p! e* o. x+ `sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 ^! ?( n1 R7 s0 l
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% w# C: E6 r4 w) PDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% F3 M! @9 k; `% {3 M# _6 ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% E0 O& w& V3 g8 ccharge the fee defined by the state.$ h# W' w; ~' {' i' V" u$ i( B
3 k' B) E1 ?7 Z" k: R; S/ LThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 F# c5 b3 g0 L; S$ u0 d+ Lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: }) z7 S& M8 L1 o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' z* q0 c- ^, x& h
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 k4 f# ?$ |1 N X* nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 y o$ l; \ |) T. l
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. n% f. u c, n% Hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* E! m% K8 ^' c* i6 g; b; Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& u' E( j. @8 w1 M# D4 g+ O" ^
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 `" G6 x" W! }
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' `0 g. M o. X0 d, t- ]
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( `5 P% q2 s* p- ?( Yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ l! j8 u J& }( H2 c: n$ [$ t4 Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there e% M. o" V+ K+ o# D
are spaces.2 r3 Q! q y5 U0 P: b u8 ]; }
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 r; }1 Z2 W+ E+ B) ?5 q& R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 W+ d9 b6 T* \/ }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 \8 }2 \: t; p/ j2 q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ j2 X) O" _( [6 ~ Q3 @& Vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 V' l+ C: L0 p7 k7 F ]$ f: |best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 S. J7 M2 e1 r4 Z, gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# s& Y0 q0 |" |5 ?car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# @& j0 c# s7 d6 l- X" ]7 r, Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; q& i; X6 T3 e We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
