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
& t. T. x r: }3 K, dstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
8 \/ f1 O3 ?3 Q; o7 ?on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' O( ^0 i' o; |( f"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
4 p% u$ ?( { f9 C: |3 a0 W" b& Lanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, K# W* r# ~+ P" L0 H2 A2 s$ V
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; C$ K( _% q" t
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 U# @. @0 `+ n& Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. `: p* J- S- L$ }to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
+ T q* A* S* S" {9 amedical schools.5 B' p) k* O! \3 K. Y
# B- e3 a6 s& \8 l1 ]$ IEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ c6 ]8 N: I) }8 m, [0 u2 x
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* l G9 a1 K$ n
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ E5 Z% {# J q' L- h7 ?' S/ Dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 X1 x; z/ d9 n- L- e* I
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ T4 r) H! k, D3 ~4 u* Xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* ?. `; f1 T7 h6 v3 A& x
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, ~+ q" [0 i7 R9 a% z( x. Cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( [& K' a- M1 g; N! B
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: V! O* H* }5 `, x3 A, Rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ M. ^* m( i2 t
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ ~% e, U7 ~/ c! H, |9 zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# u4 C F9 E) q+ D7 y; r) b# a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ S0 X6 C4 W; e+ a" khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 Z+ { \, L: J7 k( |- l: Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; D. I, v& x7 W0 l% I: ?) t7 Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, F. s5 e$ _' I* L3 Udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 a/ ]% ]* p8 G x3 [/ H: Y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When( f: h' Z0 z2 ~. ~$ ~ C0 L5 b5 s% V
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) |7 ]( J7 [7 l* o5 p( e' T) @
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ r& o9 z9 J4 L2 \; u1 ?3 b! Eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
9 d+ f* C/ M$ _! i iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- B \ q+ c+ @0 n5 K! ?* k) etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# M: l! ]( q$ S" u; F& Nseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the, X% U! o- I+ [9 ]% F9 E
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
p3 H1 m M$ ]$ K+ j: j7 H {schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, u9 g0 Q, s/ L+ J, c
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& E0 g) }7 U, O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* A/ z5 ^0 L4 e: Ihiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
, v8 K4 T4 A8 xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 r$ v; `7 T, p% x$ pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 G8 s3 A9 d8 U8 |. F# K6 |7 m1 Bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 B, H( e) k' r: T( l/ s4 x+ r
are spaces.
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7 C" \# t: ?$ u* i4 ]+ Q; P$ DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 W' f+ `2 E& s5 ~
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; p& N' V4 X! b8 {) w4 u; h- r
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 ^; U x/ E, T# G
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
1 e: i* X! K6 l- E8 G8 p1 vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the% B2 v8 d0 N) d# q& I# X1 |& v
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 Z, S! ]7 b/ |/ f- Z4 F5 znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" c2 o1 } z( `) u- c
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; E1 x W- ^8 e; Y6 t. |- T \2 H
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 F a' d1 S( B) D3 T We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
