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
% `& Q* Y+ X' G% `2 e. \0 xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 |+ Q# A# o! i8 z+ G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 Y2 c0 z, f+ P6 C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) I& N2 A* Z$ {" z- `7 `; Canswers to our pointed questions.0 x6 {! G5 G, e; I# ]
. Z! m5 V6 f( _4 ^; ^The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; D5 s7 f- f% _! ?; Z" {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand) L( M0 E! q1 `4 `
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ `9 B1 p& q& C
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams7 Y1 b; t i# {( Q" D; o. V9 }
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 c$ U7 D- x8 g/ n9 w; R! Y6 k
medical schools.+ `/ n) J5 W. v( M! l6 f' V
) Y; P( ^ U, ?4 d6 t# x
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% I# {2 `" X Y) ^. h
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 i: F$ ?+ G' [4 m; F
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 b- }, k" K: Y! nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: t& Z7 z, E1 e$ `
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 ]* ?$ R! D! Z0 M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There7 k* u' V$ P1 {8 ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 e7 E3 } M6 v4 Qmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# m+ T6 A. h7 `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* A. u3 t( _9 E/ L% w: xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! t. D3 k% h) _3 R! I1 |9 P5 n0 ]
3 ` e& j8 h: a- J' t
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
X3 Q* L1 B, M4 t' {6 ~8 pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! N7 ^3 n/ t9 u9 f/ y; v
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- b6 L- p5 @( F- T) Q/ U' P, _have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% `0 `$ O' Q' z @! Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- q/ \- v$ J- p% \0 t) l( E: G% x+ T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& l+ u/ |7 [$ Adivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& w7 Z- w6 A2 I5 V/ n' ` _3 Y( @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 i- Z2 X0 T G0 s( j( Y7 @a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 Z1 D! d5 B9 Y
charge the fee defined by the state.
, X( K% N' {9 j) z+ U, m
8 h5 W; E/ M' a5 b- L- e3 ]$ fThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* d9 L' u- C: R" z) T6 u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 J! i( D- u! F. e3 C5 G
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
0 |; S' l7 S7 L6 u5 c5 ^truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 S, d6 A& T! D# d$ x! ?
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 t0 E/ L% T; _4 c
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on j9 a. _( \# j8 _6 a4 v- ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 ]; U7 w( x* A( K0 {
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ o- o5 G4 p/ o
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! i) y: A% @/ d( Y; Shiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& R" D* t6 ?# X: k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# ?# X# u+ U" t# _2 _8 m' X/ tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 d7 e0 @) l) B R. ]4 vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 R* r+ V# O. F3 s2 A7 ], Vare spaces.
3 t8 P3 h4 _( P! l6 q- Y; R- \. l1 [8 G1 P4 F. X
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ ]- n9 R7 U+ e: J0 nto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
* V0 u, U$ j! f" Pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 S6 m* o- P2 ?
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ S4 ~$ D' B8 n1 t% iparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- E+ E5 b Z0 z8 u( jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 ]8 l9 O& w: B' L j5 H
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, s+ r+ U" V' u1 _: ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' [+ F% t0 u$ ?- D4 F$ K! B( ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% s$ f, u! s0 ~( b) ~& z2 x# B* b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
