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( X( i p# X# B9 l) U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" k- ~% f" B, U# W+ h N
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
, q( s$ x1 B) A& Q j+ L5 Z# `' @"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 N4 j" U7 F% b1 |: l Z
answers to our pointed questions.2 H) r# J( I, W
4 C' J6 C( j l0 k' L( o ~; bThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
! ~0 l5 J6 @% M# U- ~; ^2 c# {45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
$ G1 m, X; ` u8 y g' G3 Mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ u7 S/ j9 h4 q% H) ^$ V1 o
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 y( j) B! Q: A: V1 ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
K2 O1 t1 \8 F3 qmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the8 J9 H( |% Y* S) ^8 M2 I, h
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants: j2 H) S% T N. P
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( M0 V% @0 r- N1 F8 W! y% G# U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ T2 a- W) c+ Y* [is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 Y% H% ?. I! k& U
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% s) r1 O6 l dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and- [* D0 B* \$ S: j8 H
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; ^1 ~: Z/ S9 r! v _, `+ tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some( l& H" X: e: Y! x9 M7 v
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. X7 U6 j1 n' {3 t
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 M' B1 Z7 I1 @ Zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# y$ V4 y0 ^. b7 E3 ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 t& G* _ A! b6 _; B9 E5 Y/ Phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ o1 J: I6 P4 z) ]5 h% C4 C9 {4 fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 L6 Y+ a; v, _* ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 |8 N$ C6 k# c4 u) b7 m2 b: cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% D9 x' S- I5 I! e! M
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
$ k) l4 o! Z& B8 j/ K# m3 qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 {4 D# s4 T, ` E J0 Ycharge the fee defined by the state.
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! h2 @% i: x) J2 H) T6 [7 fThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
) Z4 J8 Y3 X. V/ m) ?( x( Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type9 j; j/ l7 k$ X1 c. I) s! `
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 f Y5 d& o' Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( O% ]& H# d4 H0 n3 G2 y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' }% ?$ c% z: w( p. f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, Z- h2 o5 ^5 ]( _7 ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
3 W5 q* `* X% O" W( }you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people& l7 z R# y5 Q @! K% X' S
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 C6 b+ W8 i+ ]" V8 s8 x% X5 Hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& n4 s6 ~2 v* e+ d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want v2 p+ f, N' h$ i0 z, j, ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, |+ N( K# `9 |5 _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# J. R* r9 G: |: n# [* p
are spaces.
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5 h6 i$ E- G$ M3 Z# pThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 o9 U* b* J. G0 a A5 O2 L' r
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 g s5 y, M- I, b$ {6 o& `/ X4 L
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
S% Z: W6 T" Q( J* h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ R/ i+ {% i0 }) u6 vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 u% V8 f3 ?! q5 Obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( E* j a3 @9 y& Q& Cnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( {& x* n a- m* o6 f/ d, P4 b. \- P5 Ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; o1 y. B) H8 }# Y7 P( z# x% i( p! Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( X1 e* p W. B9 Y" [9 L, r t
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
