我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 ^1 |8 w+ R- C8 D% q# `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, d& y% s6 ~$ z$ }5 s- b bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,% r! E" H1 L) ]* A. |5 }0 z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( ]- v# i+ g- r/ R: i' Yanswers to our pointed questions.
6 N, j; r0 h" I+ @: Y# g- ^6 S. L
" C2 L' j) _# X/ jThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ r' ]. h& W3 P( n) g! T6 [6 i) ?45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 m/ U% Y" c9 E ^& L6 _) G# \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ \1 u2 e2 W4 X2 R7 m, A, mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 T+ D5 R5 v' V9 o& q% C
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: c! G) e6 a# \6 h9 h( V- Q5 [8 A( x) ~medical schools.
* b# _+ F8 f/ A( J: ~, H
6 n. {# v1 T' r% }+ S6 ] ] _* cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 F8 s3 L5 L+ `/ T" y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants+ F7 R- _% z( D. G/ |+ L) a
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: z/ L8 L! O) ^/ b( |6 Jassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) q. I- a/ G' g' C% W0 Eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
; T- t! ]1 |5 X1 Q1 uover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 B" t9 O! L$ V. T! M/ {! Kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 k" `2 f* a# {/ G0 |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* C l e9 {* z% A1 z! c9 u. b' @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- g/ {$ p0 V: m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
5 C) r: ?! Y1 n! F9 D1 t* F* M* w
/ U: n2 g D: bThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, G% u4 v7 N! l8 h: |( P( M3 bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. k& O: m9 G" G7 E
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( _5 z9 c( D* M! Q0 ]) o% O, chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ b; C: `4 W6 q4 c
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
|; o/ u5 M* K9 isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( M) Z: e$ C- U, B L+ E8 l. P+ Gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 f5 u+ ?2 |! x1 o. {
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- U1 I! ]6 `$ J& d& A( r
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 h. E9 Q' W, D
charge the fee defined by the state.
, ]" f0 h/ L; v9 J+ s& ?( d: J0 u
& O/ G" [/ Y# w5 q/ pThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ ?; ~: `9 K/ M n; q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
n N; b0 J$ z4 ]5 c8 ]of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big E+ ~) Z+ C4 f7 [2 ^
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 }- { ]+ G% Y( J8 ~7 F X* r+ Gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" a6 k+ f8 L! |' C0 i. Rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ }. ] E% J: V# C8 |) L3 z" Y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 L7 _+ X$ }5 U; |) M* vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people4 o! J) r4 \% b
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& _/ O6 {; w# n4 j; h* y8 Fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 y- m; J" W/ N7 S a0 E
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 w5 g4 Z4 l; ]$ J5 `) @ rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 M) E2 r/ T/ U( A! ~: Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* _# r2 c7 H0 x9 |4 d0 `are spaces.
( F6 R( y# \& f0 z; Z2 i, G' }! A* m- Q5 |! R. J
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
" R( {* n2 G. \9 e9 ]& Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 d0 g/ n2 l: t2 l! rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, ~' E. d0 T% I+ r; j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different! D/ F1 B; E% \1 {2 g+ O2 K1 D5 ?5 y. D
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 }: K2 F2 U7 V8 V1 S
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few1 V( J* q! T5 R+ U0 R9 D F
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
L! ] g2 b* ~$ r" I9 L/ K. e& bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& M/ ?6 ?0 K9 K X! L5 K5 ?
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." D" A3 z0 I: p
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
