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 i1 C, P4 z7 A! r" istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( e" S6 D! `! G# H
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 s& m3 U$ W! q4 Z. l
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: V: ~% U$ s3 x& G7 _- ` p/ X" ]
answers to our pointed questions./ K# k5 i* i) ~, t3 T
% J. c8 N) P6 X& Q0 ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 J; u) J, V" Q2 \
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand& X* J# E- _2 G6 }9 S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! ]" @" K2 {' U+ Z# w
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# ~) y# K" ~/ ^6 T9 o4 ]
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
w% z1 s R p# R+ v9 _* qmedical schools.
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2 ]" \( |; X; `0 ~( E# `+ e3 ~; YEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 N/ S4 k+ z- ^1 K8 G7 F
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ D) g k! E% f% u5 g+ f1 w+ @) ?5 \to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ @* S( j' r5 R: m% u+ g# g. O# K' fassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 N$ m9 D7 K0 y! l, W2 R9 A" R% I5 ?
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# f- {' t+ r) v# }+ ]) S Dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 [* [' k0 K+ ]% M$ z2 | n9 G
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( e$ W) @" Y7 j2 ]mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
6 K& f: O9 Q+ F6 G1 w& sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, r7 F1 R4 L9 Wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 x/ B- N6 j9 ~2 S, z3 x
8 N/ X" J3 r( EThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ l% Y: a* l+ w1 U. B4 M
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ ~: o C/ _- \6 |$ t2 A1 A) S. Esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 i* C+ r4 {/ Y* C# u3 Shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. `8 x H1 t! u. Z O9 F
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 x* u/ M1 E6 {sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 ]7 v5 b6 l9 }) H2 |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" P4 A7 x9 E7 b7 TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 K' H* b4 x. J# R: Ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ K# C9 }1 k; t' H
charge the fee defined by the state.* J# P( ]) ]' t7 _
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- F( F. J* c8 Y6 g% k6 p
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
' z3 I: A' u- @5 [5 kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% F) n5 h! e: b6 W- _& o( k" atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 f$ r- |, Y# R5 Z, Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ D, I( c) f( ?. ?. o) o" Fworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
5 ^+ R/ ?4 a1 u' A! Dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% X1 p/ G3 X* Q& C' Y3 x: V0 q1 |
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ L2 T. X6 L+ S5 X v
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 `6 v" ]7 E; E; M5 b$ N0 \
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. S$ t. l& v8 }2 j
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 ~- f$ r6 [( K8 b) Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 Y0 A5 @8 @& K8 N: c$ X( n jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 {+ L" q0 i. V; k. A) Gare spaces.
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' V4 K$ N; \8 l8 o3 q! k" k4 F" rThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ [) s9 L$ |) y7 @: j- Ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* P0 ~) A6 ~* o9 X( f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 i" Y1 L) m: P& c4 R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
3 A1 k- z c1 L; Sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 E r6 q8 D6 j- | x* L1 B+ A! ?
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few s, S+ a Y3 K/ I1 |/ [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
; ~! N" l, e2 y! y$ A7 Mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 u, T+ }3 |0 I0 k
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* T" {! f( O8 D6 q( {( _- W6 U; d; D
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
