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
/ G# m1 d/ N. R0 bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 j, I {) ~9 \on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- m) a2 h, p' \; ["George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
L( k' }1 q' R1 Wanswers to our pointed questions.) t* \5 i [4 V3 R/ H8 f& [5 \1 t
+ c7 K- N. _: }/ ?1 S6 c
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. e) {9 Y: {" \4 Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# t1 X4 ^1 T# g! Fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
7 ]% ]9 x9 D5 ]& l* E, P1 Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* _$ W- {7 {7 p& ^2 B# yto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are+ B( q. b" x% l l
medical schools.
% e( F# T; B% h9 y
- i+ {$ z9 {4 z R9 r" M @' T2 bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* Q6 \$ ?$ n; O$ J1 t% K, igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 e8 x; _4 A% w& v2 @6 x! f
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% g* W( K; U/ Y& s# a3 {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 ]/ a" q* F# E8 O
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 C, v/ L4 i$ V, D4 Z' z# ] [4 I
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 [# P- o: o( @2 U; M
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 T' s1 b; n! Y& E( e# D' Q5 A$ A0 Kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: l) k; L9 l% Y$ e9 o( ]3 v& B$ y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( |3 [% `1 J7 x' H* Tsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." |' _' ^+ \" K! I9 @0 ]9 y. i
8 J9 f. q: ]7 e5 g% J/ x3 YThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
9 e. y* l3 q8 V7 P9 x, f9 Bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ E) B! p6 p6 s2 d2 F5 R5 ~supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) u2 t# w( G) X/ d
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! K/ i) H, K5 W) @% M vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; V/ k0 M# {( `" U8 |7 y# Ysitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ T2 E7 J! t6 i$ Q: J7 a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% l9 a n, z# x& j* x3 Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 L: i2 v, ]: P; t ~& S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 v/ t7 z+ K. V* T1 n& X8 Fcharge the fee defined by the state.
( _& d0 i) q3 v- F# j8 u
: E+ F- A, U* H2 X4 HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 B4 \% _9 }# p" }: \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- v y- C/ O4 L# _$ W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# f& ~7 @1 V5 }. m9 H+ e
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
: w0 F% i, t' q7 A8 |2 Jseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& z0 X. w3 v! o r' U
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: V1 h" L; h& O; m4 Tschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 q3 E2 L% |" |you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 d* i3 J# X9 h8 ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 x+ C3 P( \% p7 V- ?3 u
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ d/ b7 K6 k, r# z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ ]$ o3 u4 D/ X# E2 o
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: D# s3 r4 r& c7 m! `! Mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there9 X& E+ D d0 S' A5 f8 H2 [" x8 w
are spaces.
& }+ Y e1 @: ~, B7 @* X% W$ J s' \3 }3 k/ f
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ g t) h2 r$ m9 N4 ~0 ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# U# G+ |5 |0 x0 y) iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* P& e4 f) E" r w+ F, G8 F- u8 w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
2 x1 m5 K& F% G6 ^; ]! e# Yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 S6 t% G* x* N* J$ |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
@6 U8 @( }( V0 F) O: onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& A0 J1 o0 Q* d9 J; P1 A) }car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; C# h7 Y: p9 V! Cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& B: ]' \1 w7 j6 o
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
