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
# b$ l) G {3 K* T% W) E1 Z- v; Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went' q& i/ W3 j& J7 z5 x& ~' v
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 S& [: H/ h1 N0 R1 S* T4 t7 U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 s0 b- ?' T9 A
answers to our pointed questions.( H! R) {4 R# p) y+ ]3 N t* @# u: P; F
+ C. \9 C' t" S. Z" ]; |4 J1 A0 cThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ w# z" a) o# O
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand7 @- b# G9 M) I0 X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" p, w: j7 n! A$ t3 P" u9 J
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams B% Z8 d8 j8 Z+ T. r
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 w3 g/ ^* G* Y& c# h5 \# x# [
medical schools.$ y- C4 u/ m" O: U# e: }/ [
3 V. K8 A& W2 F# ?# D/ P& G, oEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* u7 F, i0 k" z$ _& _& }" b" ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 w' M/ y$ e% \, F8 t- Dto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 v& t% A, j; p) i+ o2 X; l
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' o1 s. { v$ U( i$ k+ [$ Z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" A& |1 R8 I; _) H( ~: H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' _5 @6 i: v9 {, G5 c' Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& J# c9 |' s1 b! V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& V) y8 L# ^( `- K9 w8 d; h; n; {2 Eshortage which the government is addressing by converting some) {3 X2 P6 J) F9 I P7 j D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ {+ N; B* }0 ^ b) Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. [ S" _4 G. {$ ^" |. p
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 c. e9 a# m i$ phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* K, `" j3 P( X
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: A. K5 L/ S, H5 k; a* c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. e" @, ?4 g5 J2 Q" n; k0 n, w
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
8 Q5 h( c7 r- I/ `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: Q' Y" [& e g- @/ p2 i2 la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' S O" c) I3 u% Z% w1 T z" b/ a
charge the fee defined by the state.8 W. S9 q* l% _' V; ~8 d4 d
$ t+ [1 j' |, H5 C+ U8 ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
l0 z& ^$ ~) T5 Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. y$ G" b" z. Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& T4 E6 F2 j" r, w3 f+ b$ U/ _1 Ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 _0 S7 U9 Z$ N# s$ f$ y fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. f/ R! C" g7 ^6 ?1 }9 Mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' J3 M' F5 C6 Q8 d# h9 J
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, y4 a% T; |3 ~5 z
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 N0 t: ?1 I3 ?0 W2 q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! @2 W$ i1 T3 q% L5 Rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 ?* {* g/ E+ Z# V1 Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 X* C+ z ~: ^/ q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# i4 `. B |5 f( q# wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
H7 m- k% u& s7 Dare spaces.4 A9 ]& {. {4 b- a! a& @" l
! e& U% [! s N) ?6 Q5 X5 H+ ?5 mThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 \3 G! [7 g0 l3 j9 L0 M0 i5 j2 `to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they- e) L0 a! t. P# f0 L2 t3 o
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' N: F! n' Z# k9 R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! \/ ?) z+ A, P9 ^. w- u& @6 J' j" N
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 }4 i7 H I' Y1 P7 Q
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" G. W& W2 L& [) V7 e( g
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( T5 C8 c' y2 I! |2 @car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 f9 ]5 ]- p7 i% _% S% v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: C) M; F4 {' R" ~ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
