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 b9 \) s$ f) `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, ^( j& d( T6 ?( |5 E
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, s' N' d7 R1 |" a
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 W1 o0 D. F. T6 ganswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& f7 x7 ?: Z5 C% u3 `" A9 \4 S45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand D: o! w ?# ], C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! s. z+ E- G( {5 R8 Z7 \free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams% c, o* K' X t
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 \5 S8 A5 g7 G& R
medical schools.7 k9 [# h/ l8 x4 Q0 u# d2 D+ Y
: n0 C8 Q1 s" h# `/ @% K. VEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ e% a1 M! m! M# \6 Sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- \8 e) A7 @' `- M' P) B. y- eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 V; ? _% x3 Q' @assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 }7 s3 H- O+ \" w9 iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ \0 `4 H' M$ E: {# Y, Hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 K8 N, ~8 v+ j4 ]seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. e, E8 Z% w* v+ a+ \4 m3 Vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ E* V* K$ e9 u% D8 ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 j7 T7 }. f. h$ ?
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
% r, Z6 s Q7 z- f0 o- wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. d2 W1 I9 y1 _
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 V3 z/ l, |9 A1 f( P, e% L% _' Hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% H, H$ I, r8 B; u+ j9 O$ ^, cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
$ \% j5 A& ]( k2 J+ Ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, t+ n$ p1 N, `) P: T6 Pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
~0 o. X, b, ]% mDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 L, w8 e) W; W7 N5 ja lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; M8 `4 y* J/ D6 @charge the fee defined by the state.+ C, T, S' Q; M: k* p
8 w( ^7 l! ~0 e% I1 a: |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ o9 v O% E% s1 T* |1 P$ \' q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 F N: k7 y; r! H+ j# G( J& g+ L* ]
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; e& d. p4 X% X, b6 n1 ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 j7 J' d7 ^1 C, A6 dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' S" n1 C1 G( D g! z) ~" ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) Z& U6 Q) g Y) T! y" i/ w {$ B
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; ~* Q; _3 T0 r! u
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* k. E7 S% Q8 g7 k4 s
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 a3 D2 B3 v' B# c9 |
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
1 S0 q5 l; |2 m c% {0 g6 _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
7 I* l9 H* p- x) Q; pto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' L7 j4 \" x5 B) {6 \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
q& L' |3 a' ~. s( v$ e. W; lare spaces.& [8 q; E$ ^9 D2 b ]# H( i
, v& T! n- x( T0 G8 M3 ~/ tThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; K1 G: N i' f& d. E1 ~" K, Z4 H! E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 B7 @8 V- M" X% H+ ]8 o! Q+ zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 d* ` S8 t" s5 y
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 l7 G. N5 E- L2 j6 V" Bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ X% i7 G! e; I" N8 a9 A% `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 k8 X7 |; C4 z0 B, c
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 x5 y, A, o2 h0 b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 z7 a9 p9 ^+ g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- r$ i/ p* r$ F; _7 D. B) [
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
