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
3 Z' b- u) Z+ n/ rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 K8 `, l/ u) m( E1 }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 b& v2 W' \4 n5 R( J( `
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 t& \4 I( }, T: s$ u; }4 H
answers to our pointed questions.! k. D R& _6 Z2 @/ g u$ ]
{1 n2 e. H$ ^5 E. Z3 M; EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 g: e2 _6 t4 ^( c4 z( B; ]
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 |" j2 a* }4 ]! _7 I& g8 W* Y& d
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' m8 p1 k, h: ?" C' A0 ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% Q3 h2 Z: t1 o6 m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& C' {/ i) b6 X! t: Nmedical schools.2 ]. `* T8 z0 L f. G: y7 G
) P, y. e! [+ p( O, dEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ B6 D# O7 n4 x0 Q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 P2 }0 l7 c K: u! Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 Y* ?, t, P) z+ |! X1 X2 P* Nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- l& t- l: K$ D
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 [& l; k2 k$ W" t3 V
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
+ g0 K- b0 u! L) r( H% m! o8 {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ s" U) V! f& Q, t2 N8 q$ n
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 f( F: q3 Z5 K9 o L
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 m; K( q! A# X# B# e2 R9 R% R1 Vsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. U# p# Q! F/ |7 B, z4 g
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 O% B. ?; ?1 S1 \$ jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. I8 t& l+ e, M$ q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& T' u! Y- L2 x) u8 b) Z& ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ n8 E1 ?$ h' N7 X& A3 t' @% _: Nthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! b' \' o7 S; j/ j5 Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 j- z* |" G6 t1 V* h+ fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( L u' X6 Y; K4 \, lDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 e! t1 Y) k* A( q) X. Y! Za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only8 |) ~6 S: j; `7 S, Q
charge the fee defined by the state.3 H+ f( \( d6 c" \! b6 _+ d; | S! a
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" l# W+ K7 C& x) G6 } j i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, m1 }2 X& Y5 C! C, Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: ~0 g$ K) x: J3 H. W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 |# d" H, f& a# f
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, a5 n5 `6 I" T! h+ T7 c: Dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
g5 q1 K) Z2 l O2 a+ pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 L' ~9 H4 t O; Wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 C0 k$ K- Q- k. z7 _4 H4 @5 _
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- u& l& a! F; R. ~8 G" Q6 C' z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; B5 F; d% [# m1 L1 S- P6 Gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 v. e* a6 j; e, i A
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& y; d. j! {2 v8 E
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) s; u. \; x. O) e2 W. Q' ?1 aare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( O. X3 e9 R P" E: s( C. l8 ?
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 i+ h* s, V5 b, x3 A Nown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' y- P- U' p" x2 J0 g. p
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ J$ }2 S5 G( l& q& y% ?5 n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 P9 A+ L- \( zbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few# V5 }8 `" C0 F8 `4 r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& x* _# q' m; @) t! d. L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- A4 \. A8 s$ r4 [. w
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 j- l: ~1 J, j" i4 S% ~( o& w We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
