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
/ c3 U) v& r" e. E& Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
: u( _' B' n7 p$ Y2 X, Y. g8 Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, U; F- e& l2 \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 F( L2 M- I) A& P, a! V# k S1 }
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 B8 \! c" [3 U5 q ^; c
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 r& G2 f0 s- G9 j
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
a) a' ], ^, Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 `( X/ t8 p4 w. T) Q0 S7 cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 o a% u0 W2 N) D6 e) s7 @' X# Cmedical schools.4 k; f2 {" g& R5 q0 d0 a, H
9 P. Z# \6 r/ cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 i% q" Y' i" Z& p% T! g5 F5 Ogovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants# s- b o; h, Q/ F- c" S- [
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' G2 j. N# X0 B3 x8 s& Aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- B+ `+ d" y& K; \0 cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 b e! V# ^4 b/ i1 U3 \) Iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 N: I# X6 |& t" _
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ X/ K: E- J3 X$ G- _3 G
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 k, x/ V: A" d$ U# [, }" ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) z6 @/ b4 r# h; ?8 p( P Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' ?" o; g) U2 Q5 O; N- f$ m6 O
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 Y9 l3 i! L: s+ N9 ^
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% F& J: [; V# Y" ?2 j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 X# }! }7 b9 }' `$ V; P% }
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; ~6 r; @6 F8 G/ K5 vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# O7 P! D' \9 G7 W. ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 C' k4 _8 m9 }, t) D1 ~/ K) r
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 B5 r5 I$ W( y4 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, s ]$ m- l. u4 _' D' f
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 w# f& E! {4 V. w
charge the fee defined by the state. U# G+ i# l/ U" }8 D
; r' o+ P5 S7 v5 D& c+ D7 mThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: O# e5 X! x) I n% e7 \5 Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( A1 f6 y7 T3 [" yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
0 y* X6 M5 ^' J6 Btruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
_: M$ |3 j6 c5 n* |seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 I/ o& w& Z% W8 W" v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; s5 G; Q) G; o2 c, Gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' @5 n1 |. y2 w+ r _, h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. x7 S7 T% }6 v- r3 q! wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- T1 G8 ?/ y7 U j* \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 J4 v! {+ N3 y& Z2 ], y5 Q' J2 g* W0 opeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 g4 o' g) u, V3 Z: G- nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 L: W0 u) h& }0 }/ Pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 C% c& b# u: h( ]
are spaces.% d5 t; G7 g! X7 n
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi B) G& O6 V4 d8 L1 [/ }8 Z0 S/ ]; ~
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 e$ j' T4 _& H; j. e4 k9 cown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 f3 }2 f' j1 P/ i( ]$ \/ G% j: g! t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ k; {, [2 d i4 @! h P% J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 c) c* h0 B2 |8 k; s- S
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few4 u( }; L* ^% `5 d0 R7 @2 Z
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& p3 i4 Y& i9 q( ^2 {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; e5 x3 _7 S; q& T' G b1 l
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 _) o, [6 i2 ]( p, m, L+ i
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
