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
; N1 y D. C1 \' }7 hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" K) X T9 D( x# L% b. o; h+ `on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; J( v1 X; B7 x5 v5 o: {! f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 S$ W, [- S: }7 ^3 ?$ Q
answers to our pointed questions.: K j1 w4 K1 J6 x: ^! Y( S2 K
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- `& ]; D6 C# Q+ i% L. @' t7 k( Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 _# d+ k3 l" C. eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& T5 }8 \4 u) M$ i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams M; s J! d2 X, L5 \- g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 u) M! Z. ?1 ~
medical schools.
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6 J$ w7 Q4 V4 T' B8 {4 bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# B. W) o: j# M6 H! L5 }6 t
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 M& i( ]6 D; E1 {$ e& W9 r6 m! [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ ~2 Y7 p; @' M7 X5 u3 H) {+ vassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! x' l7 J5 j7 I( `
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 J+ o2 o9 e8 D; t/ B2 Cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* ^+ d* A; }8 d/ A# kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 C6 u8 h5 w* Y3 L1 f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& j* x2 l, { y( t. h2 F; \5 }' mshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" | V, r8 A5 k3 qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 a" c5 d, A+ P: gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) F x# @- V, c) nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' S. `) T5 i W. W" O% H9 G
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 O E9 R' L i( N* F$ M8 w/ X
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ N3 D: j0 |% q9 e! ~
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 S" r/ s" Y% ^' `+ N2 k
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* L* y+ N8 n: r3 M5 O% ^; A' q5 [Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. R5 f$ T1 K r' E/ S; b5 P$ da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* ?( C9 ?1 ~# b' c$ W
charge the fee defined by the state.
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* `, @6 O, A+ Z9 f" {! r/ AThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' R2 a: w0 `; n- X7 O9 s, D
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! X( Y# e; \- F2 A
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 |' K% `/ m, y: U+ ]+ z$ [truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 i+ N7 [5 U7 }9 K
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! V. D- p2 T3 e" Z: ?working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! n2 `" i r+ M4 `schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; V/ k6 E1 w- \% Z7 Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
I$ {! R4 q" E7 D/ s2 ]/ Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 T' \; h) u9 V6 ?hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. F4 o5 u' t: C' Y
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 u9 C9 m5 m3 o! |
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
0 W: R8 D" w+ l' }- [buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( C# n* T( L6 e! V+ v+ ^are spaces.) t' t& z1 R' F% I; T3 D
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 S% ?7 p3 g# v6 p) c, L+ B
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 ]3 J# u% T- z! M, z! }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 \! c- C( e( q5 f2 f! \$ E40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
( g/ {. k' q6 y( mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 n! k5 d7 U7 |- ?2 q9 Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. W6 M' {, C q" }' W' Snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 U, c8 k8 y; e8 s4 V2 i+ i+ Mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 D% d+ L+ r5 x7 w \5 F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." B$ s" Z( l5 z# o
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
