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% y9 p* U+ |$ E8 s z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 H. r0 W" F0 V, G g# O2 I. y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# c- D' z: @ k1 I"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) x8 B2 |: t( W7 a6 X/ G+ F" {
answers to our pointed questions.3 G( Z& d9 {. @. w- s: T6 M) b
0 N! p" N% o% v- p1 J/ |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
) W0 W0 {9 V! p" E4 m/ f2 l. q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand+ e9 o$ _ P' i5 Z5 {
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, P: k8 S9 Y9 \% Z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: {$ R0 n9 S% H* lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ e7 o( R7 ^$ r5 nmedical schools.
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^/ C( P0 Y- o4 F3 p: R8 eEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) V/ w; S$ h6 K. i& |4 A8 Ggovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 ^8 X" |5 o5 G5 O: ~+ v! L( Xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years1 j& i" A, X7 p6 T& |' q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba d/ n, k1 f) z7 F, \
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ i3 W1 t3 o/ y5 t/ y u6 S) b
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
1 ?+ T- o* z: m( l9 ^. qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, y5 W1 ?! C, a( i% Z. o2 tmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 C( y' M$ g, W6 ~/ M- M& v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! l& u ]2 v# ^% Zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., h1 ^. w" Z. X6 Z
0 m: ^2 b3 q+ p2 o# j0 EThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 ~) `1 _; p( @8 Cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) n, ?- @+ {' b% m/ u8 g- }
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 j/ H& \. @: T j7 ghave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& _$ ^' H" R7 [6 Pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* v [8 E v+ B- j: j% K3 d3 d! V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: \3 s! S4 y* C" j4 P; J
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& c" N: D3 h8 nDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
, M+ t' @6 F2 r" V. f! ta lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 P$ S6 }, I& `/ s+ T; c" n
charge the fee defined by the state.
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! \6 l6 y* {9 ?$ R' ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 E, p# F( O9 Q8 I2 j4 T0 Ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type \: X8 g% [' k( u$ {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, A) r/ u0 R" K; I; Qtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* R( f; J k. b& g, Y3 k" x# Y1 b2 [seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
/ Z5 D C- v: Y( R2 Jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 Q, H. T. J& Q- g7 o, Q% O- _
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 T0 {' \3 ~2 P, {: Y& O& Gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' I' S* d% F; D" a
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 o; F$ W4 h7 ~" S7 i" L# x! z: {1 n0 A6 ~
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' ?. E$ u; K' W# }; epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 H5 {5 P3 p2 G
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 Z1 P s/ t8 j- g1 ` l/ r3 ?8 C
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( D1 ?, W' C7 O& E- G, l7 c5 [
are spaces., Z6 z( m- B2 D, a
6 N& \4 I# c6 b3 S- EThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) [# C3 Y! P/ ^/ \
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 Z/ u! @4 J! S K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: v5 G3 F: {3 m
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: X; R ?% s" Z( o6 N ]parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the$ h ?, V+ C1 s N" M: V
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ s R0 b# p: e' N9 }% ^# e
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; w; t9 {/ [& J6 B
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: Y% w' P$ n, [; E
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* c4 | L. N% K We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
