我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 p; f8 T1 o' J4 U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, u7 ?, B$ F2 z8 Gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; W0 X4 x( v* D6 Y( b"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& l, j3 U5 ` L9 U' s, Wanswers to our pointed questions.1 {1 w* B6 A" j2 f
- m' i4 ]+ Q* \7 n t) B& g. M3 nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; f a# o0 m9 c, `" H, `+ ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& ^& F7 h4 A3 N5 @$ s$ f
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 p/ |5 h9 A/ G; R; cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 f5 U" m9 \/ H* r/ P" l9 D
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are. Z2 m9 p( F q) t# R9 n2 u
medical schools.6 C4 C0 p. m6 E o+ L
( y9 O2 ], e! o7 \& M: M* YEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- l% j# v8 j& a( _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
) k' e: D" p" r, T7 n$ wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- K$ z: L8 H" d. `2 G7 Jassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba7 H% i' w+ X2 j. i/ W. z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 F( t% X" p3 s2 T. Y& Iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! d1 A, l8 ]2 K- T2 c4 Hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 ]* D. F- ?2 ?, {2 @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ i* ?! Z& G) c a3 y m W3 Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 s& _, `- P! ksugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* L/ j( @& N" L( ]
! D, k/ b8 [; @- l0 y7 x) [The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; }; ^" Q( p/ @2 Z) |6 a- N. w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* I2 b, k( i: ^# w" W- osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ J8 L" t& f/ S- t* Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ R1 G+ E0 j& }. j7 w% g( |) i0 nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 X: @1 i. g+ a; r) v, c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ J" \: T- m( f( f& Z1 O0 d: E
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. \5 X# a5 G3 O2 f9 V8 G( ~) n) sDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# b4 x; l9 B! o
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 H" p6 r* X/ w) ^4 z# @ `charge the fee defined by the state., T+ W) w. ^! g! M2 k' H# Y4 V9 U
3 D8 T6 _+ T. ]) W% v7 y6 P5 UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& Z: K& N6 P# N! K
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( D/ ^( O$ v1 F' mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 g. u9 z; L8 X* Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 Z0 {6 Q( n& h/ Q3 e
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, S+ _: B# Z5 r& b8 P+ \8 U+ Qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 y0 g% @, V( A [1 _! Q# f2 F
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if0 S' e2 s4 @+ X% X6 y3 v
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 ^9 Q+ V! d. b5 Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: \; D& r6 _$ J3 F/ i5 k
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ E/ c+ Q/ a8 |: n) ^. W# tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, y/ D1 o3 H; J% }
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" s5 D( g& I5 o- |9 Q3 Nbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& o! m" e: X! M0 F% ware spaces. H6 G. \. l) X$ Q) K( ?( p
" v) _ A$ I( x1 l2 v
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi$ z/ _7 @; j# D+ ~8 ` A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& j- n9 l% W& S9 U, ?own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' X+ B# A0 t* s40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% {5 K: y9 f7 r8 F$ u
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, k5 L( f9 V) _- Xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; g2 E8 |, u6 M9 m- `+ _
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ R4 R* {9 Q5 A: u- v
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 l. M% g/ `$ C4 f6 u
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 k$ j* m0 Y: e) w# \' t `1 g We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
