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
% f+ c# t) V% u& M& ?standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went9 @ F# o4 U' ~! A6 R x. m9 a
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& g5 ~% r" s% l" Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 v) y q- c2 _4 ?6 a { sanswers to our pointed questions.9 e, F/ {% E5 ^6 H& Z, r/ g7 f, ?9 y
( ]: n, U! {- Z8 [" [3 p wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 _" T- a5 _$ G! R; W# J0 t; Y4 E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 x7 y8 c6 D9 b: kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. I7 T- r8 ^+ D3 U% s* c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
' U0 d0 j- K# x- u/ L7 E' o/ k+ Lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 a+ v2 b4 Q- p' v1 k% z
medical schools.% w/ \, R& f9 p" Z0 [
1 _2 d& o9 x$ ]+ V0 {# l# q5 b9 j$ i+ gEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' R% l- w5 g% h9 u" v6 V
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 v0 M8 R+ G# h' }to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 |* D: G' l/ H* X+ j% Aassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 d5 S5 K( q/ R, K4 x6 X8 Q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to1 S! Z3 L% g2 s( T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 g- P) c5 \- t4 Q, m8 J% j! oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 O' s5 C& h) `$ N9 B) lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
7 q" C) q' a' _' i) c8 sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some/ `* O! w& n7 m5 _! P6 s8 u0 ]$ T
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ `1 S9 X! c1 v9 n, Kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and' h0 \3 R+ L% A! B/ Z# F
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 ^/ l5 x h9 E2 B c( J
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 a3 v3 L; H; v3 {( B5 A$ w- Wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 E ~: M; G# q+ {sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 A) }8 X+ G8 u8 @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 z/ `0 y$ V$ O" d- V O' cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 p- F+ z# r/ o* b O- }/ m0 _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 H6 a, {( {% U6 H# dcharge the fee defined by the state." r1 |- d; y+ ~- V% A5 T/ C
$ y7 h4 ]/ L& y; U, T$ r S; h
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% v$ f8 U: N4 ^1 ^- d, |" r
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, @1 m- q' J: J2 i6 p8 D9 g9 Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
& C4 E: n$ g1 p) d0 V; {1 g, Rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. {. o, K0 ]0 s: h; r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. A" v- h/ y' N# V. t' V3 hworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" a4 O; T; O9 e. D4 s- h" pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 h" }) V$ \! ^3 lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" s# ? `8 G. t
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! U# s9 I7 D- a1 Z* }; j6 e
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ ]) N: N- T5 @2 s: w3 @
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 B4 H* ?1 k9 u1 G3 Yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 ]6 c$ E- }, _& o4 y. M. X# Z# A; k
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
* D* X# u. c* ^7 G9 \* T @7 }are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi `* C% W' r" E5 R& k
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; d0 M* K6 {& E$ Y! Z5 |
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, N* @) v$ R) l2 A( E40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 {; v. U: I7 w3 ?# S7 y" Tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 g3 {7 A3 A7 m5 Q2 xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 ?- C0 f* j& y! T2 b$ y
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ m- t0 V1 G7 s- K7 E8 Ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" B' V# @3 C/ D mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
" n9 _2 e: i: q8 P! w X We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
