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
! i* w H( R) a7 c6 v4 @standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
y$ q! v% J& Eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; d3 m2 `% ]% ~" g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" @/ }& \" A* D! Z# W5 s2 ^ R
answers to our pointed questions.4 W* }! \7 P5 m) ^
' l) l' f/ `3 E0 x) x8 W
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( ^' Y/ J3 n% q6 L+ k45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 o2 y, i+ z# l* g$ Y% a1 H1 C# T
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ A L& g% ^4 \" l0 H
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 r2 R" V$ F5 j) W# I9 X- m
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" m9 T! `6 y/ t1 N2 [
medical schools.
# Y2 i; m6 E0 P- e, t' ?6 z6 j$ e6 N- E# n/ H8 x5 I
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 v8 q; A8 v# Lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ Q) d" _, ?* D6 t
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% d8 g$ Q5 X: ~2 z' @& J6 Q+ J% lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: D0 H) Y; g4 I# f% P& U
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 j3 w$ N! @0 b7 G U
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 z: X0 k! t8 wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 _: t2 E3 P/ F; k+ L! \0 Zmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk1 s5 A! L# a; `9 V5 H' v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- }; E% N2 Z: D# x0 v( wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
% K$ p' x! _6 N- k! x7 N+ l4 w& _/ w( d: f x1 [6 b% I( Y
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
& ]6 {2 N) X- tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and0 Z& d8 i% Z$ A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 i: \* n, c5 |1 C
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' V) Q: O; d/ }3 F- [, P# G1 W5 {* xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby; F9 q) u! X/ z! X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 P$ l u8 A3 [) Y! A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# h0 |8 R9 T- V. Z( _
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When9 O! Y+ H! i6 e& z7 G
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 |. u+ U; N* j) jcharge the fee defined by the state.
0 Q4 N, d; l6 K. g( n8 u+ \; c. n
: h$ J0 |$ [6 y2 a: }( f4 cThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, z( J; }/ K) D# Y0 E' S( p
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- V3 n8 R% f. O" | \4 l" }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; b5 ~& E' A0 w: ]! Y" t! A
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 ~0 c( _* ]+ Q& m5 Z+ wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the {/ U& I* e+ f- `+ s
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; k/ ]5 c$ b" sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 U- o$ {7 R4 Z# A. myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
+ ^5 V- R. ]0 b0 [& z5 m6 Ltrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ Y' ^3 B7 x' W9 y3 a
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 `. D- A7 H- n& n
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% T# i1 y0 O$ R5 l) F1 X; R. f8 v5 dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! Y3 }7 a! E$ e: Z! z9 J+ l+ |
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, I G0 i* T% V& d' |% M/ @
are spaces.
4 d& R7 s1 G+ D6 V
& A, t" f: P+ D) [6 K8 d+ i MThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
( N2 o8 w$ u, v. ^7 |to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! H+ A# y- M5 `& w# |/ a) K8 aown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* T0 c3 ~7 a: W7 f40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different, v1 S! Q- f3 ?' T
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the u$ A5 H/ c7 z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. D; T& u$ j1 G8 Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 L9 I: t+ L% g# E7 z4 F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# l) V3 b- t" z% V3 eis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. v0 v1 A) @6 _. z( M/ D We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
