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
1 `7 u! d$ `0 E% K& Jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ B$ o i# R+ j: \on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% n$ J( H* l5 T* r"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 @* B3 C. a. ~0 L# S. o: U0 ~
answers to our pointed questions.6 {# G5 U4 p) D$ E% ]
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) B( {2 t# o! D2 x5 M0 J
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
- Y& F: x; p7 Z1 z8 Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; r s; P; W. o& e0 v0 tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! r5 J I6 E# z, h, r2 x' n" D
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 I6 r6 r& T) I2 d
medical schools.
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S) k- s- s1 @5 H/ j6 jEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; B: f, {3 Z/ Z- G, Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 _: ]6 `: ?, f; {2 e- T) ?' c
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* W# C6 g$ s+ m, I7 Wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, u$ |1 W4 ~( F" Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* x0 X% j( C0 Y" x
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" T' [& H3 y, a7 m* n: Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
n1 c% Z6 i. {4 z2 Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk, n3 Q5 A |) E* x; d
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 C+ o# u$ k! b* z; c; S J
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 f# S h9 q; Y2 D* f# P, CThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 A' c) E, _$ q$ _. ^1 W0 R" R' \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, n! l8 N) E( s9 c) w# u: V
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, j; V V5 J0 j! U3 Z5 W" O' t9 w& O2 Shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 L/ _' h9 L7 s; I' X) W$ P) J
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 v. @; g9 M; Q2 h4 Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high1 t; W1 m3 I7 ^' g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 c) \' U% P, s$ WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When. z, G& |1 Q& w6 x; V" I! _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 D1 g) h5 ]" a# I. ~/ M
charge the fee defined by the state.9 U3 L& g6 Y$ C5 r' U; p6 t
9 ]- [# m0 z6 ~# a/ d, qThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) `' m0 N' R& i/ M) K$ H7 b9 H
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
5 Z0 U1 F) p& @* oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ N3 u9 r7 l5 ]: g( r$ itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 g8 J: J" V: |
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# }, w5 m1 n7 Y( |. d( f+ e5 |$ A
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: Y% S& a- _3 X( \9 }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) _1 e6 |: D" ?; K
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. A% M% E, h4 G- M' @trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. ^4 ~1 c, x; U" P- ~8 @) c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 b8 k) |# @, R# q! C
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 Z( p3 n9 e g* x, H5 Z# ^to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 r2 F# C- @6 O' h3 pbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 r/ v( k( ?6 O; B9 ?" I+ Q
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; \. G8 p Z3 T% }3 q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
- ^; B; {2 K6 @: ~! C M1 O& L/ b Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. _6 z2 f% j* k- ]2 ~* T* S
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* I" t6 \8 C) O, v% Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
, D% A, ^6 Y( h( x2 D- xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few, t. a" j0 `0 D" d; ~) e5 v
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 L( x( v D6 `3 e8 q# G8 `0 h ?4 Gcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& u8 k; q Y9 I/ @) n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 n4 F0 t. i% u8 |/ j
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
