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
5 z5 v+ G7 C/ w* A9 tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& D3 S# V3 u+ m0 W
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 |! ^! K& J! q. _6 ?( N"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 o2 |: i% |0 {answers to our pointed questions.
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3 ?) k# h7 P( I" b/ gThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, ^ D1 Q7 d Z$ c0 C7 X45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) S' J% p- c: e" \( V/ A. dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 f/ V$ [2 O: _
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% W* `1 Q* P7 s2 r; v, G
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 l [$ P9 C) u4 omedical schools.
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* ?0 Q- Y# _7 F) q' k7 K0 I$ V2 E6 ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 S. g: @4 a# o7 Y6 i: V4 p
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ a9 i) L% c& `/ j) L1 jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years K' `0 N. C0 w$ T1 S+ J3 `
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% V7 X" J' z; e, @3 wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ n7 r, b* ?' g; H) d
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 y/ h* B) j. ^0 R3 bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 R& U" E# |% M" C7 h% R% s) [mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# S6 S1 F- ?1 g& `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some: o& b7 F. E7 l7 N3 ]
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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4 ~) I, E9 J- v2 DThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( Q: z) U5 C0 u: V @. n
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: `% U4 O6 S$ o K" Q0 ]- H8 Nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people% ]4 p8 m Y; Z% m6 D
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) F/ a- j: e" |( W4 N' t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
0 _6 k# f& J+ `! g' B9 ^# m# }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: U. V% }: a1 ^- V, U
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 e7 Y7 D1 C7 Z. MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) I# {/ Q# W! {' O9 W# o6 V. @6 @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 S- B& I0 e+ G% t3 u" X
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ D n2 T! v7 T7 H/ Zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type; ^: D7 }. `) C1 V* U3 Z0 l5 B
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" W2 e2 u9 E7 ?$ _( y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 ^) V7 Q1 G2 K
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! U4 `# X: ~$ S% H# w
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 v; L6 C1 c- u& O$ n$ Oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! [ G/ L- P" {
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' o. }! n% h- N, a. a6 x& R& v# s3 R
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 y' ^1 c) q% Nhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 \2 A& C1 w- a4 k8 Y/ y" b
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; M! Y. Y; l: Cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# U2 t& r, W; F; F
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 x+ S. X# r$ c" E1 Q9 |are spaces.
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8 G2 m) c* F' F! R% qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 x3 T1 z$ f! i1 n$ \ m+ d2 q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( m X' I8 f. J9 x+ S. Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ c4 k6 E% m" D* P8 l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 u8 v* |2 s9 q8 V, Y, cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# D. E* H% b4 A# x' b( \9 lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% m$ f& D4 l1 x" ?# \1 f3 Anice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 j+ D' Z; h% {6 q- |( L' t5 Fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 I5 j- b. ^& C
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 `/ U& R; K7 a* t/ C g We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
