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
) r" s4 T* {9 @' u9 G+ hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 M6 J, Q ^. j4 Mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% B) M% f9 C% w9 k4 v"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 N7 ?6 A" P+ Q5 O% `
answers to our pointed questions.9 x2 X/ m) N5 ?3 U7 F$ S4 D! M
2 y% E2 m+ C4 G6 I% \5 E' L9 PThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% M- e: x/ j) F8 i2 d# T
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; B* u$ _0 s* { Z3 S3 m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' x; W! l, E# b6 i2 `# h- tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 q) Z- W4 t Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) Q1 p' C- T. d0 [+ e( \, Lmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 o+ b9 b" ]- e% w; |( m$ U
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 r" f! ] o) A5 M6 Gto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* `* S0 p: E& O2 X$ d: tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba g. O9 k/ J' H- N8 d
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 {) e% l* u1 F$ Z* hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 H! t0 b$ }& s* E8 Y& w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 e' Z7 T" E" ?' s, u. t% E3 imostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* S7 y+ Y' s% m& V2 ?9 G/ _shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* ?. P* Q x5 K% Dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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0 [1 r5 L* y3 c' m- mThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 i! t5 W; @# B. [! ~9 x; y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; C( k. s' a! M3 q/ T) G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
/ G0 d; d8 b) |9 k6 hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ @& D8 j/ ]) W- ? z& W
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 y4 D5 [( j6 B, M% ^
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" ^, M* ~( \; v5 W' Vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* `+ S4 H1 r( i2 G2 TDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! b! j# l5 p( m% ~2 a' p/ Ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only7 a- u2 F& B7 p
charge the fee defined by the state.2 M$ s; U* T( E* o
4 I2 u+ x, B" u! e2 {& N4 x7 U7 ~) yThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) x+ N6 J. p5 K4 h+ ]! Z$ ?- L
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! R3 R) _1 m2 z/ B3 G' T- mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ W& m. g- |; j& ]. _6 Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
/ ]+ k/ M# b# i; u6 v mseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 s0 @; h1 ~" t* F, K2 Iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 _3 q) c+ B; f* {# _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% h, O% _+ ^. M" b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ u2 A2 u* i) ?. Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 Q: F: V9 R. E8 F' J; ^hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 h( v4 C1 H! Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& I+ X$ l3 e5 g1 Jto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 m9 q( o# q3 A/ H( H* A0 |9 Z# F
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 n/ j& Y6 T$ F' L+ z9 i
are spaces.
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2 }) Y; a( S9 A+ T2 {# _7 w( yThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 d) _/ E& W8 b+ v, r- B' c) t, c
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! W3 U7 O0 \* v9 r5 ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( W. n( U' l4 Z9 o7 \3 z7 L40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 o& l! b; j; x" v
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. Y) z9 K% s: c/ v c, c
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' _7 C# |" N1 n& B2 Dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 |0 i% @- n% S4 W8 ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 M. {9 s4 t: N* Z) _: Q/ T8 S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& U+ E/ `' |: C; e
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
