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
2 t3 K; N- C3 e, Y- n) }, z Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went m1 @/ ~ @. B% T2 A
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, A5 e, }2 z4 a* Y
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
' ^8 p9 @7 {; b6 Ranswers to our pointed questions.
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! W6 U# y. e7 p$ cThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ t: F& L) t. W8 ~% q9 p1 w1 {# f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 h1 N( Q h; I
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ [6 a: T2 m6 h# G9 O7 Q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 D! L6 B; p7 J7 m- r! s8 Dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 w+ B# c8 x& G* d# E
medical schools.: w+ [1 p3 u+ n/ y7 o. e& D6 V
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 g; R, C9 i; C" Agovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 R1 E; \1 j: F& G% |to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: P5 y( r. _5 d/ kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; ^" N0 s# z, n9 u- H; Lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 ?' c- p- P [1 X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- D. {6 t" C% q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 }) I1 P- H4 h% g( }
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: I) ~$ l( v5 L$ z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ [' |6 d% \4 S" F2 Z/ x5 Qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 `3 ]7 t; Z; k- y; qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and; u( a- a: h9 ^0 h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- o+ b2 f& P7 p8 R" Rhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 ]! \8 d" a5 ^: K1 v1 t3 L
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, E/ I& d3 @3 a6 B; g5 d" N' w7 esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 x5 H+ Z5 W! o& P! I. C( fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: v$ A' o9 Q- e% t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 n. _/ r6 S: p0 w% D" ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 O. I3 S5 ]. U5 V/ r8 ncharge the fee defined by the state. `6 q8 I5 o' T; X$ s2 G% z7 V
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 k. k$ u) P# D( A, A( x: c2 gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 q7 m2 }4 t% h! M, ^8 e: oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ W0 z' p, z' etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 b( |: G8 U; u# z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 E! V7 y7 A% F$ f" R& n
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. }& D6 a: }2 p- }& S% H& E; C; C
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& {& j* P9 |( J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 q4 r* d0 z4 H$ Ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. K) |. s5 t a& V! B
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! J* e5 O0 Y' Q0 @
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: y4 T! t$ Z) q% W2 j
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or4 A: y. l0 Q4 \6 T8 T( k' P* d
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* y. f" h3 C" p A& i# A2 ~2 R* \
are spaces.
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9 g/ ^/ o, ~0 A' HThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: p% J3 r, e7 r6 {! V8 P, m& tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! ?2 d6 n* o) q9 bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
* t) F: r9 J/ O7 M' I: \% R0 a40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different+ p' ?0 R. W4 o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( f0 d* P; M% c+ D1 F- G. Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
0 e8 c1 l6 a$ q8 ]% }1 u) f" S- Inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
c# \5 Q* Z( H0 _car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' F; [) v5 u8 }& `+ Z4 dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 U5 _, a, o% e
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
