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
! m, h, r5 {% `9 @standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 L- Q% \" W# H' j0 don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,$ _- {& x" S8 N& R
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
' i( \, X2 t$ Manswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' i* t8 c( s5 \: y0 {9 m" E5 d" ]
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ {# S1 Y) K/ U. L- ]2 X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is" f4 Z9 A# d/ Q' o) T8 k+ `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 d: S& s: A. O d* F7 J1 [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& u( `" n1 P7 {7 X7 P
medical schools.4 O$ |3 `* `$ D8 ?0 V
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ h! g& l7 n- I8 [2 v
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ P+ o* G* V* A2 Q7 `, hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 A! F2 t* p- t) j' O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# R: k% O) d& s; I3 {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to$ e+ ^& K6 E+ [: u& l4 d6 T
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 W) u. F4 T2 o2 A4 m. L/ O0 c" e
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ \9 z4 T- \" A0 b& k" E) |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
T3 c8 i% [5 M1 C. K' M9 bshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 F3 {9 E+ ], {. D
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, s% g. V0 M- sThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. D) A: u% I7 }2 \6 H3 Z" F
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# b! C. H O0 _- I5 Ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 t: u) s& A9 y c9 E4 S) J4 ]1 Thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good/ j# X1 W6 L5 T6 ^
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: D- I' w. I4 S& H+ {5 p
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- @/ ~8 B# d/ O$ a- m3 j
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
% I! k, X5 [8 a' ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 z3 ] H& M. I- f% O2 L% {. B
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. Q# k6 a/ g, x9 z" H. u. q! ^! Y
charge the fee defined by the state. G* j1 b7 G# F& T* v
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 T! e' W7 k- b% ?7 H: I! m2 Uon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" r9 _& x( B( V" s" f2 xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
' s, N# v5 v, _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 J1 Z" E3 u' ?# p! W3 t
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; Q7 r$ b! Z/ V- }% ~8 _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' n$ G5 M+ s6 C- f; oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 Q+ @4 E; G* x7 R& c. ~6 H
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* L6 b3 Q% B6 Y5 C+ C/ |* w
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* N" ]: a0 W$ U; {2 M7 H) Whiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 }9 j% A& i8 ?, m, P
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( X9 o T7 x* O8 ]( y) ~% @% m" s
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- S) W: g: N; q, u, P% I _) ]' I# v: E
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 M/ G: a( {% ]8 r! K B5 `$ A1 [
are spaces.9 ]) e ~2 G; R& Q D5 ~: ~) F
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' y6 x; c% n- M; \& L2 lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 i$ {8 ^6 ]' w9 Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 I$ C; p% [6 z8 b' E" M: I40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 \, V* p0 _3 i, \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 }7 v1 k$ l4 Y4 ^1 R5 Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 `# W! F) [* M+ X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 {/ q5 D* V+ k
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 N9 v7 U0 R; U7 R8 qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.# F1 W$ P5 q" l. x/ L
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
