我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 g7 u9 i2 U( n. E
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 T7 j# n( ]1 B# V* o! [1 z1 F
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* P8 L6 S8 U; b( }% Y* s
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 I. p$ L+ Q! `" |3 w! V: lanswers to our pointed questions.. v# b5 K$ N4 o. w. X# z9 q
% _4 z" e' y% X4 ` [" H9 |. m: qThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) g; ]8 C. u2 M8 j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 S5 F- d8 s: ?: T9 ?) N/ ]
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ n9 L. l5 `% C8 ~( o8 D3 W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ K( \% M3 ^2 w( h% tto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 x( S- l i& f6 Z
medical schools.
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# B1 e- j8 @, ~% U9 x) H- _Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, E7 y( N0 o9 `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* A+ _# V$ j' P& U8 h. {
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 s2 V( j1 f: `; V( c
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ R3 `% y! ]1 D. U% C& o9 Gis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( n0 @& Z9 y8 Kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, q, Y% K$ | s* {
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 m4 _; O( m. F7 a2 J6 I' kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: i. U# ]$ i' i5 f& `. x9 @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 d( ]. C( }5 h& qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 ~9 |8 J. m" L5 K1 i6 ]* O0 K s
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% P8 X) \. I# s( p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 Y$ E' W% l! Q0 {! thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 b9 x" g2 {$ ` Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 B) g3 s) d5 A" H9 x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' ]6 S% _$ z* L4 e! ~8 rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., p p9 d& H% a2 a- `
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. s5 a: {9 c, l! g9 s. ^; M/ B3 za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! | k, s) D' X0 l( J( m0 f# s
charge the fee defined by the state.* Z0 v9 \% H, s& Y# |
' t8 Y/ h7 l6 v( `5 u( TThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ e: r; g( h* s& o3 w$ pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" X/ G5 X v+ ?1 o
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, H: r% _" T: ~/ ~- H8 b- dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel/ t, p8 }; {, F# {! l' B7 K
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' P3 a. K6 G1 ~+ j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 ]) Q" B$ `7 w, t* \% }& aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% {0 l( I7 ]' @: q* ]- Ayou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* Q/ J+ J" c& B# k+ Z; Z9 b% K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) k4 D) E0 ^0 P+ `$ Ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ {7 G/ }/ j9 _! \! X+ @. G
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# d- H) T& t! H8 z: `
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' i4 K- ]: F, ?* X6 ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, T! p( j( o l$ K
are spaces.
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) S5 Y/ J( i1 W1 y, L# S: n lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 e9 A: A: T. Y; V% l+ a8 Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# |9 m7 C/ \: w- l" b, o4 ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
! K$ d) i1 _" W# _6 p6 I; K40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 I( @- J4 D# L& r9 f% s
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. O( s# q* ~! [# o
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' J0 n8 x8 K/ E n0 a4 m5 t1 t
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of s- G) d: P' N7 K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% _5 j& E% o8 U. F- ~
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ G# `$ J e6 s) t0 W We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
