我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living8 D5 j1 N+ g) ^/ r( b
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" L1 b* P7 C! don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" s, e6 [9 _1 L8 [: g: O"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* u# F: `( G6 W. U/ B: {
answers to our pointed questions.
4 d2 `' u8 d1 A" p/ U, s- n- y
1 \% I/ x1 L# V4 X* a7 ]( d( ^The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% s! x$ B9 a) r( [, y* L
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 m3 w4 B. X6 E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 O/ X7 B6 k/ y! J+ V7 f7 R9 L, sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams/ T% }5 |% r5 H s9 R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
% a* z, K, O# ~2 J5 Bmedical schools." Q, a7 u% {7 F3 c! A+ o5 B% d
' X4 `5 n. D) Z" ~1 G3 C" DEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' m/ F( ?1 T- J$ T2 s( K' U% {8 o( M5 Pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 C* y% w/ k* }6 e9 u2 wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ n q; O3 }' ~% X! w( N
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba% o1 V( }" \& \ s
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( v8 V1 b9 w- b
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 |2 V- `% u( O6 X5 ]4 Gseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and" C5 B* c9 Z9 ]# n0 C8 b
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 i. c( w' I. B4 n* `' s* kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 V: U4 j) w* `/ S: Isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." U% ~( o) g- U5 }
+ e5 {* z2 `/ s0 CThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" R* N, a% a' |* V( W
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- v' F" l2 [6 v/ Q3 W B6 Q+ L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: t8 p# r$ }6 a$ ^, w# D% Q5 X( ~
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* d' D- o( s4 k* [- Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby$ u: Z: m: K+ v( D
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
# @# Y1 s' } C$ |; Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& L! R9 u2 i! Q0 Q- GDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 k9 a# _" q+ e/ R
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
" A/ \7 [2 z& }$ [7 R" G& Kcharge the fee defined by the state.
! G: Q. W- z% I8 c# ~
3 t0 m' f7 [) T2 e. @, P" A: CThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
4 O1 e+ @$ d7 @3 ~8 ]1 K6 [on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ P5 C5 c8 a- N z% ]9 L, }: V& mof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. L/ ?8 k9 e; D" S! i5 [5 A* Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
! B1 n( @3 D) [8 Q. W0 oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
/ S+ G8 ^4 J# J& B+ j" dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* x$ s# b8 t# Q( T1 D( N1 Y- h+ {4 E
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: g1 C K6 \, Z- z0 b
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people# | A: ?) E& }. d/ |% u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 x7 Z, g0 ]& Y# h _7 u& |hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. z+ p( l& ]' e7 i/ j5 z+ j
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! _/ T+ G" q- {5 A' n' t) Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or+ x! A9 ~, Y& J+ K% L
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 R, D( a. g O6 s, p4 t6 ?$ u
are spaces.
7 N r9 p1 P% i3 |* v+ d8 D# H' c/ J8 m1 Z2 r/ }6 p
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; `2 J* ~0 _% f4 b' O r/ ~* G
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# {3 ~, d( t- u/ M3 q. V
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the% N! H( j- i0 o, `
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 x. X2 a: F# M- m
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ k8 q% c, ?7 T/ {' |, rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 g" H5 q- T, U1 T! ?/ Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& D; D8 ~' u8 {+ K! \- Mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; e3 r* @- s1 g Zis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. W2 l8 o1 x4 a8 R. j y) O
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
