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
9 M5 G! J3 g4 j. e ]2 xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 |, T3 P: a6 d
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ h; @! J) g# J8 f8 T* w"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ E4 O5 Y+ r7 yanswers to our pointed questions. }4 ]2 t% y9 ?3 P0 m
, l. G* L" E2 HThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ L( ?6 R- @4 L& g8 G45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( k" X; y0 ?/ K
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 Z) _1 P) K/ D) T' n- E3 B* g8 Y# ^free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' y- }8 W2 s0 d1 f
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! J- [9 d6 O Z9 s, M8 t) C
medical schools." f) Q p$ ^- u, Y: [
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, g4 K+ @4 m) m2 ~" `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 _. E7 ?) ]- F7 W: Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( d8 m9 ]* v7 S' T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. d$ v" R( ~* Z# Cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 B0 w$ N% @" v+ `. w ]: S, tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, I! f8 g! f) O/ e
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% i+ f# C7 `1 E3 m- }" emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ u4 R. O4 I( G$ n# q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, i) C' w) Z2 j' w+ u5 esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 T% k( ^ {! H/ J4 e
, Y. `1 H$ q8 K- f7 y0 T0 iThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* {5 f- u" j4 ]5 B/ ?, S
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# O" t6 g" S/ ^1 xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ _& x2 m* W5 R! Q! g8 hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ q' i7 B2 k9 v* }! }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 u9 j" m& r+ O l3 y
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# Q) r5 e# B5 }! t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( b: T8 F0 P. J& ]: T* tDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) e# Q& @' w$ n. S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& H8 `0 U, e9 d0 x
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: u) ^* p+ m3 s# Y. U) u$ P* J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type0 _1 r- h9 o/ l! J" f) A
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# E. ~5 o5 } I; D/ V, vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 R/ i) Y4 `( I" W' @4 c3 H1 z7 jseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' o5 y. V' ]0 [+ }$ ~: Aworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 n% v/ [. z0 Q) V
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& G$ d; H7 B! X1 Wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
q8 h9 ]( [. X6 k" T3 w) y K5 ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* V1 u& {* J2 T" I0 Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ N$ y: l( o8 p1 N0 ^+ ?6 T9 R
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 o2 A; f1 H( R% Zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 {( M0 g" J7 V$ A, G% W9 C+ bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 }$ g; r) K6 H5 Zare spaces.
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- g" V3 v9 C8 L) |& T% _There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 |0 v& c: @. C$ d8 B" c. R2 a8 yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' {0 I( G! A- _ {3 Y' ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the& B6 X( U, t' ?0 n3 Z! I) q- o
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, c4 x- [$ W- ~0 l2 }- u2 r1 q9 ?: l. Nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the+ ?3 }3 h! D- s
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% E% F8 o1 |9 y, G8 hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; B$ p+ i; F+ V
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- g! A" {" [: g3 G2 b% R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 d6 A/ \- s$ U: B
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
