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
; v$ g& B& R# Y U( N! }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
1 P0 s3 X9 h3 o9 H0 o% u2 _on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& _: k! u6 M, S& t2 d2 {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" C% _4 l+ }6 @) [, l3 Y* r
answers to our pointed questions., T8 f1 r+ X# Z' e& t
1 i9 |- d& p6 A8 f' }% \The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# m9 j" `) r* h# y2 \# W45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ X5 } w( w" l8 V
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 J9 i0 x$ }8 X) u" O
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: T! Q4 |* d% _/ oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 |" ?( W. ]1 a# t, y! _9 h
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 H. H6 a( k) n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 {# I; ^' \: P
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
1 p# n2 k4 _* A/ @, d9 z) v- Kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ S& z: |, l2 p5 \is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 {3 o4 o! `+ z; q8 C' Cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 u4 T) |; l1 Q! v" e9 \seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 ]9 c! {" D% j$ |0 T0 P- Jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk' P( v/ {) ?% P# q2 ] X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some+ B" S) @/ h0 [2 \5 ]# A/ }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. T: L% c4 v! D fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- B: Q8 h3 J }0 H8 C; C7 q( gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) e; V; k+ m/ e' Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( i% e1 w7 X" l4 a: |, r! Qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 M) S7 i5 I b% a; Q9 H* c; R
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high$ d4 e( S: f2 @" y9 m4 y
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 M8 F; V1 x8 h8 t* e0 p
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% M1 z( Q7 L, u ~/ V5 V5 R* Fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 M' Y: O/ Y: S Z% A
charge the fee defined by the state.) U4 a% j1 r& M
/ U9 n/ E6 j9 d" ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ P5 m+ Z5 ^: v( o" \( Qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ W+ b4 D2 j# F" B: p5 q" X2 ^. Pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ \6 d5 b0 A/ Y2 n; [; S
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. p, Z/ _5 z0 ]: N
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# y$ d( f0 }2 l0 s
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- o A1 |6 l; s
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 G; a c; Q! W" D; b+ | @0 t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
! u+ Y0 E# b$ Ltrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 e6 S; c. y. d0 \6 v$ D
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) A' U* \0 s3 {# ]( v) @- hpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 A$ G, S) h9 ~to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ x' e1 e+ j) c; _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 G' @" X+ h( q1 iare spaces.2 c; A$ c- c; ~. a. u" [9 L
/ X/ s1 P4 {2 G6 M+ s' Z: }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi+ R9 z4 c* H2 _6 n" J; s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 Y- c: Q2 q7 _& k9 a. B7 uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, ~( B6 F2 J3 \4 f- y5 W40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ A; W Q( [ d0 E
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the" e5 _7 |: x$ e
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 F0 c3 D% v3 K N1 V$ r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( W' M4 J* M7 | J% h: N) h) }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
7 o$ i! |9 _4 w9 A1 H# s) jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ a+ s# O/ A( v2 E4 p0 M We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
