我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 l; m$ E$ [7 J; x
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- l7 z! N% f5 r6 N2 n2 Y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,# x: x' u& C+ Q& J; i
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) p+ f" Y$ e' g7 b) @
answers to our pointed questions.: J4 S" f! d9 e! p6 \
& x8 ?4 ]) N# W" K: \$ s
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 [3 y- K8 q1 O) |. y. q$ r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 C G5 A! d( |: x' J( ?8 Rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& H9 O6 n1 @5 M: v- h3 d8 Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 |+ `7 z) R: J2 Y$ w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
% q: q7 B9 o1 h6 qmedical schools.
" {3 M6 Z( N: u9 s1 M* W3 g& K) B9 A" e* y' l& I. l3 d$ J* q
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 @" q- T0 V) ~0 q% l. E0 I' Z) h7 Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 S* j0 H/ ~7 L* q& [2 p5 l) ^to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ k; ~/ C2 S7 p! B1 O6 R$ T- z0 l4 Y
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
1 l" g! Q. J! h. i; Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
R. t1 z3 M) d5 L8 fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; w( \3 I* h, c. ^3 o) Rseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- _! x$ w& n9 o/ D4 a) w( T7 E6 v: bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' A1 X9 \9 f8 B' L* s5 @' T
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
2 \$ g* l J* n$ f5 \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
) P7 M3 }: q" o5 o2 ^+ c! b$ `+ y3 C) e8 |0 l4 m
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 ?/ g) n/ W* @) v" o' Yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 z7 D- Y9 F4 w2 r) o4 |/ Y4 C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, {: M: X! B8 f. R! S4 [
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 }3 }2 A! ]. _0 h7 P0 s7 f: {. t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ ?: t/ M, q' Q3 [/ Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' A% v3 Z9 y+ ^) r+ c4 B# h
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 {1 u* P6 w8 @8 K7 TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ H, m% }2 s3 [
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& |5 s$ M+ `7 a( R- j) g+ X: f
charge the fee defined by the state.
: I [: K* ]- U) s3 Q9 u* Z- R4 r: H M( F/ e+ j( `; v
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 [; I# }- K, {% T+ v" Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ o4 ?9 a8 Z1 k7 p4 a: hof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 H0 L% S7 C( F8 B' l
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( F& e7 \0 _( h* K, l2 fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* \' }8 J' W1 iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; [. w) w$ h, h8 cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ _* }$ n) k- y; t \
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
o, Y3 z& u* m4 l8 v5 Ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 W- x. \, c: ^/ ~( \, khiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that$ j4 e0 i3 h( d$ n7 w5 M. g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 W; I+ q2 F4 Q ?0 c" B b9 pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 u6 R. j' |" T! p) b( i$ Z( E, I
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 G0 p/ c" W3 D3 ~9 w7 Z, s
are spaces.7 G; S5 y' c* T$ V0 D6 z
) \+ R y1 e0 j( i" c8 dThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 N: c! p+ a! h# |4 |4 p" Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# q2 \! n- d( U0 Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 q& L* e+ e+ _0 H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 ]- f4 K5 P( }4 P! @$ Pparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 z7 e) V. D1 J/ ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! ~3 R R/ S2 R6 Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of* n4 p- S7 ], T- l
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ f! k+ Y2 h/ t9 ?3 eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 e8 z' `6 ~- H' y% A
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
