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: X! \4 j1 w" h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* c6 h K1 A- B+ r0 eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) \8 p0 F* @% C, X
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 l) c' W0 n; ranswers to our pointed questions.
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! F. x8 P! C( z6 vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 I* Q, U1 u# ?1 P: K3 V45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
- O1 [0 X. L& {. F0 C+ F2 v* m+ a" ?" j" yout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ s" ] e o0 U: ?' z: `9 }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
2 Z6 `+ f- V c2 ?( pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
h" P% t; x" _, Nmedical schools.4 L; Y- M! Q0 P0 B
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 I6 ]! r* O. u D4 n/ k
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 n1 v. c9 M( X b7 E1 Y1 @) z8 @ Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ E# m. ~& u4 B5 Y; W2 |
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 E1 c. C5 w' D2 G! S- @3 { i* R
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 l: T7 ~* g# G, u1 u/ M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 P: Q* Q1 ]+ g& v4 @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. s' p* y8 A* J$ g5 v5 t. ^6 o
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, f* \5 u1 ~) ^8 Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 Q% y$ E6 z' y% ~! b1 D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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9 `% S! b2 W. k$ |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* R$ Y K" d& y. w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 O; { N+ ?* y( ?% M
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) v4 J- D4 B) }- R: `! Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 } @2 U5 m% j
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% f0 N. }9 K' {4 \: S+ I# {
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& G4 m* ~( ?8 |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% y# _6 z5 p8 c9 yDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& Q) }+ ]) i( g4 j) w
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 D7 s8 X( S7 q
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ J! U. E% e# o' _8 z2 V. Q5 Oon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; m. H# P9 z3 s! h$ Sof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 ], c, H1 A1 K+ dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( Z7 k) ^+ K: |" C+ p/ l6 U/ ^
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 |5 Z- a' t/ M) |working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ Y! s% C# a6 M* C, ~3 s9 f* r. d
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ a: [5 O6 L, p& J$ a
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ B4 v+ ]" N6 \1 [; T" Q4 Z) Ptrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' H3 K$ K/ p: `7 N# f0 c& L# X8 d
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ D. v8 r5 t% d! z3 [% P& v9 r
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 |7 S2 i9 ?& ?: V. S m1 T" Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 @5 C) ^* k$ Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ g: o1 t) B) B& ?are spaces.
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$ k! ?6 L* T! [There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 U8 ]5 e4 d/ a3 @6 q+ l! N" Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 i9 P# O- `* H' S- u* g8 w2 Eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" y9 }1 \, \, i2 H* H# G
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* s+ b3 t3 t3 k
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 I, ~; [0 |7 t" S9 l0 _7 c' kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" e- J& h! c: N2 mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 u# E; i ~( G: s+ m
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ X6 f$ r7 s! `* X; t
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 ~7 l! C" E$ X. T1 l7 d
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
