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
5 @' y* |7 C; }" astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& d% Q8 v. @8 ~% [on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) u+ z$ o4 N) b" `9 V0 R1 }5 f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% ]$ d; K( ]/ ~0 R; y
answers to our pointed questions.% O0 b5 x) G5 Y/ Q% t1 O8 Y6 ~* R- r
& t0 W) D) |9 v- S( O- q* fThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& W' X! u( B( ^9 m+ W& g
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% K" m* S+ a9 L& s7 T7 c
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. c0 b8 [* x# g+ [- Y$ Z0 {+ Pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& x+ H. H; x$ v5 v. Y/ A% Lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; @' S; N# z8 |- v+ |* V
medical schools.
* x, @& \8 k& u* [/ [( H( \
+ }4 B8 [. T0 @+ CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& l% t1 k+ f* V7 v& s" Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 i3 N. ]" J4 zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, W! z5 U5 G0 |+ E
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba& Y; F' k& b3 t& R
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to/ M5 I3 O3 r7 \) e/ @
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ k6 V( h/ g% Q2 ^! K# ^seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 o0 t+ \# n. U2 ]) A8 h
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 b6 M. S# D2 `) x7 ?' o/ Tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 i; B. h ?8 r% u3 W% L9 s6 d$ q- zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.7 p( g9 \4 {) l+ s- d, r: b
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 g4 I* L5 M0 _/ G' H. Iprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) G" }, p+ }- t3 L: W5 Rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) ~7 l8 B6 r# F& O9 b( Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 U- r2 S+ F: l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
- m4 F/ D$ Z' O5 gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 M' p* |5 K; j. O, s: A( D
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 ]+ h' [9 l) O! B D `* F' GDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 N" U( }4 W; {2 `: ~$ n( T7 xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( {6 h3 n+ m5 A$ `charge the fee defined by the state.
5 j/ O/ Z3 }) f1 _% b4 g9 M' h2 h9 y1 ^& r3 ^0 ]
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' u4 F/ K, }# q7 K1 r$ Non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* v. z6 {/ j. p3 ?5 |" Y) `1 ^7 H$ e
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 Q) C& O3 x A2 S$ @9 J) g
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
! E$ ~+ W& t& Y2 u" _seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 T4 ~1 Y8 P) lworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; V7 _# s( J @
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 f0 f1 ^0 N. c+ Y0 Z9 b# K. b$ r, ?
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 S& l0 F. ~9 j, Xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ A" M. p* i" B
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ ~6 ~9 ~. [3 M% e- T8 S: m: Qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 F: Z% U" Q* ~. \& H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' d% D# @3 s, q% \buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 t2 s e2 Z4 ]$ Q
are spaces." b5 Z' Z* ?# L7 x% o4 R9 W
2 O! z# S. i* l! BThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) P( P& [3 N0 f; u( Qto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 y Z$ ]$ z; R ~% Z- e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- L' B1 z7 S+ Y4 i; N* e# [6 a
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 Z3 L6 z+ u% E9 `7 m
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! d3 _# ~1 q# A+ t9 ^, J. fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; f t0 [- y; onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of Z% P7 T. R- k2 u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ R$ ~/ ~8 p1 S" Q o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 c/ K5 V% a0 A+ j9 D We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
