我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living2 y$ P) K" m( X @5 D9 Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& T% ], c; V1 ~. _/ Xon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
6 A" ]: }- T* I' _"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 T3 }, S7 R" n9 a' A" v
answers to our pointed questions.
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+ M, m$ g5 h) `4 S5 IThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- k7 H; l9 ~- p/ Y% C! G ?- W* d5 |+ r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 p* W2 p1 o$ b- M1 C8 I9 a
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is* W8 W% E3 v$ X5 G( S
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
) X$ L2 H2 L: u( X* m' {! a( @to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ v( n% m& v8 D. n' T! p- w) k
medical schools.; U, A. B' w. M& ?0 t- ?+ t
* {; B& {$ L5 r" w6 P3 kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ X" M& u6 A9 N+ n0 }- Z7 I. S
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ f$ ?+ r/ j* K, \6 j5 {to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 f9 W3 W; I" u3 J4 B# m1 _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% b9 E M7 V6 L/ Ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! A6 J. {* c' F& L w0 _& S5 y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* j9 l+ G7 f0 s
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' {0 S z9 U/ B% H F5 H
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 R& Q5 x" r6 Q, G, a6 p/ \# Pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" v( J) W- \1 M4 ?7 p( y3 asugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& [ ` E, u. B
$ I% a% k) j9 M1 J H. u- M1 mThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! Z8 q5 L1 M0 d* m9 T) V
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 s; w. ]4 {1 d1 M* n
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ A8 i$ S& _7 Y D6 N0 g+ Z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% v" U1 ]# i; J- z, Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% W6 R x) C a* Hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- K* U) o' U3 B: @3 i& H: O
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! Z1 C/ ^- b7 X9 H/ f- A0 _
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! S, u; Y2 m: h: u2 M8 ?% v, f* Y- N
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- v. Y5 \9 \- i% e8 r
charge the fee defined by the state.
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& ]) o. L& j' x; v* l) iThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; J- D N* `% [8 t. F1 k$ [8 R
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( M2 h* f1 ?' y% }8 e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ E: R9 {+ T2 @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ J8 Q' K" y) n. R. Hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) Q' L# I" Q: K# `( t' Uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' w8 Y* W: ]3 S. a4 w* s
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 ?8 Q( F3 N* z! E8 c+ a2 `
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ r o& @" |" M7 T# W$ ytrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
3 w4 d2 C* w, T& K& rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 T+ Z% F, a2 n F9 y3 vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, h& n6 S+ \# ~! A6 pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or$ P" G7 O( h) w4 {5 y& X( F2 N* Z Y
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: N! l" L5 m$ {! L, Xare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: H# c7 z3 G( g) p( ]7 s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& W- C2 k7 p& G8 [7 Mown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) V/ g8 I# C1 \2 g/ Z# v5 W
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& r/ `9 _# ^0 {4 L4 ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. y5 d) q, K4 h" E
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( a5 j* K3 N7 ]nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% f7 V4 B# Z9 n6 N ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: t8 p- @2 q5 [' z4 a' d7 s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 D1 u5 L& L' D% F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
