我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 I( b J% Y' p. d5 J6 k n! V, l- s% B
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 E) n" l7 a) l% d3 B$ u0 f6 X
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% u4 l! T" q- }$ v8 F' ]"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 Y5 u; w- h6 y" u. A
answers to our pointed questions.
7 |% R: ]7 N2 i. u- }" G" b
9 o# q( C; t2 Q- x+ a! tThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; D i/ L; J* u$ u8 h- }45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 ^' O) a8 w4 Uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ C8 [0 \5 t I0 z. ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ Q/ j; J/ I# o: Eto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) Y+ w% V/ o: E3 A4 w
medical schools.
. v+ A q" ^8 v# y3 i
E0 X7 T; `% a0 BEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. z/ }7 O' X3 R0 d3 u* Q, @8 W9 f
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ s5 b+ J5 i) I- b4 m
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
6 w: Z, l% ~5 P. Nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% t0 ?$ `) |+ \# V: C* Ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! `2 ^) W- j6 B4 c4 E8 Iover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 l+ W9 Q" W) y) p4 C1 @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ a" y/ A; A6 A3 A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 o) s4 X: l$ j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 L/ ~2 B6 T" c& [4 T) t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
5 c, i6 [2 W$ l' V
; [- d2 [) ]5 p }0 W" g9 gThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
- e/ Q/ S( S2 E6 g$ C6 ~private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 t- h6 a& o/ K/ J) ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 } T0 O, Y& d% `* khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* V' ]. z1 W& N- N( Zthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- J+ C7 q& p1 L5 O) V' o+ x5 qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& q2 [9 c$ K( ~+ M: l# hdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: W# ? |6 I4 b& F/ V FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: ~& m6 B+ v: A. s/ ~
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; l/ n9 p) g, d3 [1 Ncharge the fee defined by the state.
, i% b( |/ k" r, X. W
& }* l: [, z( D1 o0 Z7 `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
e4 P7 H3 Z2 M* f3 ~6 I2 fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. P! W7 h7 F* D+ Cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 M- u" V5 y5 Q6 b& Atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
& I) H2 d; k+ `# B& X2 f+ Jseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
6 e% ^8 f$ B) s" I e% cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! U5 K+ B4 o% B% N& g6 _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 r3 D* X" C" m6 N1 K$ o" `9 }, pyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 g' ?6 I8 @( ]0 m" }( F Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- }% o" p- Z8 `8 @! R9 |1 T* @, mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 b d1 m' A5 z( M
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 u/ P4 h% Y7 F# Q* P9 W! ]
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
K K) V' b0 j c# ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; a& ~6 ^& h+ |% Y
are spaces.) p4 E5 S. l3 B* a
, Y3 M3 \) `$ g" b) |+ _/ JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 L7 n+ }: T% z( x4 R6 z, ~to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 o# J! R3 j" O3 P l7 }own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 x& p2 ]9 `' i; D8 h4 P6 n$ n
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 l7 v, U! n9 a7 ^- g
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! F# \! {0 B; W z2 Q" x) v# w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 q* s" M- Q8 F$ c+ u# G
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
/ ?* ? M4 U( i( I, _car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
c6 q; T4 T3 D8 X5 ?# _is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 E) N$ E$ K S4 w# A9 ?
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
