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
( t5 p: w9 y$ E8 h+ |; G3 m) Q: Sstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 O2 w' w# J: D7 m! @/ S% K/ fon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& E% z2 U) F1 c2 Z9 q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 b( M- n! {5 H: f! ?answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! X7 B9 \3 z( D8 G1 l4 V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
s' f& E9 Z5 D u" a7 yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: t$ T# k& I; o7 B5 hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% M7 w9 }- u# k& T3 h, y& a" lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) ?+ P1 U5 L. O) bmedical schools.2 T/ D s; W4 z5 }4 ~
/ D9 A6 _: I! A$ AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, R2 R) j) _6 t* M' N8 K! d; G
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 u- S5 m) Y' {! f+ A' Jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
! e" I* F" a$ b- Rassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba @: J5 Y- w9 o$ z: I
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& n& C! H8 G( N2 Z6 n4 K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& ?) r; T3 r) f R G& y2 ?4 ^seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" E0 k2 \% y- r7 `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; j2 M1 Z0 y# }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 G+ f) c9 S: O L0 lsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 @$ F6 Y. X: q
3 i5 p$ l% J! O& lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 z9 A9 `+ o1 G9 A
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% j$ b+ F% j k! Z( y, R$ o w
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people5 Y, a, {% [4 o9 p% ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ o7 }$ g; l2 _9 Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby k& F4 {/ Q# m( `0 K: Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- B+ h6 E6 U/ d) k' ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
T2 T0 Z" W0 F8 S: M2 d0 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" {# C- j4 y* e% a* N* d
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 ]# {7 K4 h6 q8 d* U% q
charge the fee defined by the state.
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- i( o) v. j+ L& w; KThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 C+ [: f0 Q, E: L$ L4 L/ E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) z' f8 g; w; }3 _+ T
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 I3 R3 h7 I# w( I/ ~truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ T7 r7 U( e) Z% g
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' h- R4 ?/ O- J: q' {. kworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- ?4 v. h% A( U; r! `" Dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
. }) d$ \2 S/ ]/ b6 c' V+ `you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 @$ T+ p- i) G) A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
5 M, c: G4 f$ M6 V$ y% Fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 Q2 B* Y/ ?% A9 g4 ^7 H
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' G f) P7 p5 k9 b* A. V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, v# M- t5 Y4 n! Y! [) Q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there) w& ~3 c& F6 }: P/ s9 b7 Z: d
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 }1 k. z9 R6 n$ ~to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# X2 \" j) S Q. _' G" o4 kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% x4 _* C1 R( G$ v% z: E- P+ V4 A; X40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 o( N# U# V$ F" m
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the* |! E7 t) M- q' y/ d. u. o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ V8 G& i6 ^4 P# j2 P2 |. Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 |+ `8 E0 e! `0 s9 F4 m# u4 Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 ^4 Y$ | B! o0 E' d
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* e5 p# N% g/ K& }1 ]0 z7 C" c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
