我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 C" _2 X$ t r* _2 E
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) S9 z' O2 c% L+ U$ |3 F P4 a0 @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, Y) z4 v- Y7 `0 q% E# Q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, B1 p$ y/ P, n( Xanswers to our pointed questions.' U6 J- {: a: Q" S& c9 \
; E& \1 x6 ~9 V( wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 {' [( {- T$ P8 g8 c. x; l# f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; @( K4 L7 ]& dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
" Y9 y4 Z& T _; X. M: z$ D2 tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; b* V& [0 k0 X: ?9 h1 f. ^8 v/ Wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 ~; Y) @+ f1 {
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ U0 }1 n7 m& `5 }# `# B* g# Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 z& _# v, |8 B( Bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, A& W- v' R+ ^; {! o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! i* I$ @% @& {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! ^9 a+ W! s, z% f4 f. H& b
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; R* M$ m: b8 W b# Z5 y, Y% @
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* e- f, W& H8 P, G8 q% U: H& z9 y8 Vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk3 ? }6 b! O6 Y3 g9 z) X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! ]8 I6 u) L( |+ S* K
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% u/ I" S! x* {. f% O4 G
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. R, M3 v* x5 f# B5 ]4 iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
& C! r% C& u7 a/ y; b5 ^, g/ Psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
, r/ F3 N, h* [* Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* x6 m+ F* k) ^# f3 E% qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby4 d: r }# L$ v. P' _
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high6 R0 O5 _0 v! L# q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% v# c v' H+ c2 @% B* ]
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! Y! t( ^ ]% F7 M, [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ E6 T! H- Z" B/ G; X
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# z( F9 L- N. r% I, g4 v6 Gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; D5 v5 {5 _1 g% B/ W4 vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 E/ L, `' H0 o% ]' A2 ]; K9 e
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel v2 q+ B: I0 L, `* M* m+ Y# ]- Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 b0 a4 _! s [( Q' I9 h2 U& q' w
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
9 |( |) ~7 b' W6 T- Y3 x& f( M( Wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 r+ d7 T/ B c) Eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* u( ^( G% a7 @% a2 ^8 q9 B
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 b) y; S/ g+ I3 @) y+ F ~: thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- Y/ d9 N3 P- B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& R) J. Z% x. I9 s4 _to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% M, K( t5 x4 o, m+ R! ebuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ q2 O S! V% e9 x* p
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: f8 G" `; @$ p$ H& v' _4 J1 v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, d! z( Q0 m" w% p" @0 U8 U Y6 hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the6 X( m q- R2 w& }
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 B K0 L; K' H; i5 W" a7 t' oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 ^: _$ U: e+ _
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- R. f4 C; p; _& `8 X" mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( h" W+ v7 ^2 Bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) Q0 w* C7 [1 G# @2 dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* u3 A& B/ V& f: j( A1 o We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
