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
6 y ] ]8 B+ L! H) Ystandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 ` w( e, {' y4 w& I/ f) T" aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! c) V4 {, I5 a6 K5 \: c" u"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( p" d/ P5 U# H- h! [
answers to our pointed questions.
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' j/ R; s# _- H* y- eThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,7 ?3 W( G$ B- y; I8 R. E) h/ o% y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 U' Y; B! x5 X$ Q0 t
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ ?2 Z- w5 |- o& p2 ?6 M- H; Pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 I/ f6 N& \, t& rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
! @& s% G2 O9 f2 O; amedical schools./ Z5 p" \( f8 H4 r6 u
. c, r j3 i" L' X6 N& DEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. p& r7 |0 p* q; \7 k& ^- y+ D
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 T( {. D5 u6 B2 f
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 O/ n/ P$ D7 q% @assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 u. D2 D8 ]$ P/ G, h6 J! d- R5 W. Ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, Z8 n+ ]7 r1 h; I. Z; wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; K, E7 i* S0 `* u& s% Z) nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' _1 n+ L% V" M+ A: v$ e* a \- h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
v6 d6 L& @( u1 j+ U' dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 A6 C: Q8 C- i* T" z; ]- isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 U* Y: a6 T/ H( n* S6 Q# O
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" c* M) U) B, |8 w- x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 s' K2 z6 J3 q+ i
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ \ D V+ r( T ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 S2 f* L" w) j4 W5 j( Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 Z/ D9 C9 x0 u$ f. Fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 a4 ]( I7 l& N: w- }8 ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 v* c4 |/ J2 f, k# JDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# F3 P" [8 n9 ]. N+ s" u1 ]# M5 b6 Z9 q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! a- q! a( N: ncharge the fee defined by the state.
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# x C) v. I- d3 vThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
b& e( O7 M( b9 |4 Oon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
g2 \' E S0 G! l: i: Jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; R( i* N7 L! [# atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ?5 J& J' Z/ T0 J$ y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- E, O/ b* v0 N u6 I$ C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ @: W9 Y9 U5 P# w! K: a
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! B9 Y- Y- }1 u5 c4 Z3 X: P* g
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 q) ]) j: H9 \# g2 Otrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 R4 h4 H% \: n5 A4 P1 k
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
5 k+ W# G8 {& X) _& j+ Apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, N3 m1 l% Z5 S7 z# ] L
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 W$ K/ d% w( g, pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 d: P' d' m( m, kare spaces.% y2 ~4 e. b$ \, ~* {. b C
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 a2 Z4 p. N# N, j2 c0 @ Z& U: u
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- \5 M. h4 e* G) v
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ q# Y) T. e. m# N H# E( f
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: h1 {1 U) @& N! y. S& \( H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! m3 |- m& b% |0 U% Y& O( dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! T+ Z% o& }9 y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; D$ }- C7 W! G' y5 Q }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* j, [' `$ |8 Y1 J5 Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) e+ _6 @* B5 _2 y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
