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& r0 `# M1 N- H: n: _, g4 M l2 p# }
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 Y" O' c3 Z" {) @0 _; N2 Won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" Y; ^* \& N2 y8 Y3 ~! C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give a- ?2 c/ ?- X& y! r3 g3 i
answers to our pointed questions.& u( e3 Y; m1 Y1 t% @& m* z
Y( J5 s+ g2 E6 mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" X7 d- Y! r0 m" q+ T/ z, ^! p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 u1 @3 `2 a! P8 p& ^# T
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is D H! z ^( v, V1 y! R
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ o& p9 \# Z" ^0 h3 E" Xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; T; A$ M6 x: G9 _0 F7 W
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
5 M |) \+ x6 g$ B& Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ {/ ^7 b! M/ {1 f6 o& jto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 \; S1 X6 ^. ~' wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 G) _/ V$ v+ e# {2 F
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) q6 n* K$ u- v% e. q; l* X Bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There q' o* \! ^/ S* }# S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; d5 j; {3 O6 y8 q2 @mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' F- S; b! B C, X3 e$ ]* x# x1 ]shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" P' }) h7 x$ e+ F. A, }# x! Dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! J" s3 s( v1 V& G7 [) M
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 G+ b/ Y5 d) R" x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
* |+ O0 ]& S' {# q0 V j/ G: R0 L0 gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 I1 @/ k' j0 O; V! W' }+ Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' S h5 J' V: Q5 kthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( |' K1 s7 u6 m. t0 gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 w9 d9 B) g. m7 _) `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 p' z3 P9 S( u1 I' b2 N9 @0 tDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# x2 s; p9 m$ sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% n- H( _; M, h% r4 @charge the fee defined by the state.9 f6 t2 v; z! D0 u5 }- i
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& g( m# \, [# t, }3 u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! [7 T. {$ F9 v$ A1 J; z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# u h! g/ S0 T7 I' ^truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; a1 k; a! K) x: ^8 m% m
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' m. B: V1 d0 s$ U" C" q R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" ?/ v" g+ I4 z- i1 s. E0 \
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% }3 j7 d8 o" \: [, V8 w: Yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) {! T/ L$ Y1 ~1 P0 N) {trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) d' s( l# _' l& \0 e% \8 n
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* |- h2 r4 k' }+ |0 Fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 J- y( ^) L- U! D8 X
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; |" g& Q6 B( rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( _" d8 T; C" `
are spaces.
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2 P9 X. n3 x; H0 `- q W4 uThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- S6 l+ _, {; W, W! h# z ?: a/ hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
+ t z2 h7 {; `5 ^% g; gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the; z6 }; J) R0 P e3 u5 U4 g
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 v6 D- _" Q, I+ ]! u3 A
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 a. t" e8 w0 Ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 K7 |+ ~8 ^8 t) c$ l u5 B
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" A( p$ H' O$ `2 V3 G
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it8 S2 Z% M, ~9 A, a. j8 k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) S, T/ g+ O! K' i+ M" o$ F3 ` We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
