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
- t% d# x m8 @% M6 V) z! _standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- C$ Q1 h+ C( }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, s0 j$ T5 u' V, t: F# v
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: x7 \" m* ^7 z+ Ganswers to our pointed questions.8 P$ }/ T( r( X& z) s
+ i. d9 [* K3 K T& a" k* d* }0 Q* kThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 i4 B( X" E' { @45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) x! J& ?' w: ?; j4 eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* P( v; I. h! ~0 X5 f+ ?free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ `; s7 ^/ S% o6 [9 E- i" h9 d- y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 V2 P8 ?! y. C: A3 e; }% C) p' nmedical schools. K1 s2 W+ ?3 i) A* a
4 q2 v/ X# q) S# E7 r( x1 e3 vEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, Z) n$ s! s \# w) s5 U9 H5 |- i" A
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 w' H x- M' Y3 i3 i$ e1 l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ `, q+ F+ r" R, n! y
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) _$ Q' [: b' }is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to9 R1 y6 J- O* l* o5 j5 X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" e. r9 c; W! f) g. Lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 \7 O# G" O8 }# _0 i' v1 Cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 V9 ~- l S# ]+ ~. O+ Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" T5 n1 L% t. U- D8 y/ @! S& msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! m z: u. D! @. S( gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
) B$ S* F1 K" ?1 {1 F8 w, ~" ~$ P' Ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) v7 {: Q. D4 U/ [( B5 [
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. U2 K- d9 }4 b2 s' Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 F9 R4 _$ U- l; Isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, E- t0 {3 V: G. D5 @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- t* A0 P3 g- vDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% y; ]- p; j- R1 G
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 I3 z* R$ l" z6 @& ?/ \
charge the fee defined by the state.
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, m2 m5 B; |2 H3 c( HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get' Y' V7 }- I; S4 \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) `) |* F* A, rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* x4 |# P- y2 y6 ztruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
z% `5 j+ P; Z+ f1 ]1 x( S, @seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
) v# ~3 B7 \+ tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! F+ j$ o, s- i6 H$ B/ b$ hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
, c8 V+ h9 j5 l, A j. T' iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people, ?, e6 B. |: q7 G5 ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 h& R, K3 e$ ^- B# Y8 k2 `hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ z( p, t0 \' n u* k0 O0 ^* r
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( a7 ` m4 {9 w9 n& M9 C
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' |1 S$ ^5 D$ E: O
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: S2 s C+ V# I( [+ Fare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. [4 b5 \: _, L" `! }: xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& N' ]8 K# V9 V K9 Z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
- B9 S9 q$ t5 \; B) e, ~$ {3 X b40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' ]$ J3 s9 e. F' }' M# x9 N3 @parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( s5 r5 Z: G3 X+ W1 g. w
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
, E) {0 b+ W( Dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& Y+ n% n" u. i2 Z1 g" V
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it4 U& `/ l) |7 d0 F* o
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) r f5 D# e# f We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
