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
8 n4 m. E8 Z2 \' ~, H$ ^+ Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 z& k: r6 C U! c2 ron a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# n7 S1 T5 C( g- P"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
8 t' x7 h( S. n; {- v# Panswers to our pointed questions.% V0 n1 l4 V* X) l. B& ?
- d( `3 ?9 L1 z! b) N6 D
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
) n( i& b( w9 a9 I9 E1 F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; B6 Q% c+ B! U$ f' nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 u7 T" G: }" i- Q4 ?0 T' G5 {free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 a$ u4 _6 R9 J! v2 sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 M" P+ P( z! u L' r
medical schools.
" I; R3 @9 N. O1 M) c1 l
+ ~* @2 D! m7 {* ]! I! PEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ r2 i. K8 s* l* a5 h( c: m
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
9 Y; ~* w0 [' Z) `3 O4 I6 m' Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( H" z+ U2 G4 l2 w7 m3 j: f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 o2 [2 A+ L& r* ~" _is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 N; |! S7 h: q K8 aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
- }' p( s+ ^) Z2 c; ]0 a! Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; e. b8 L! G' b- }. ?: W# \mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 e# e: q% P2 Q0 T3 k' Q' @1 @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 _ O7 ?2 b4 x) L5 Bsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
5 _* L. Y8 E' y/ R: L- m% g
1 T9 }9 C8 a8 qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 `) K2 E# g5 F! W% x1 zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and7 e4 a1 u; @8 B( O) Z' q% J8 n# g
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people% S. y* S: k3 _9 k
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& N2 k% T# T0 O t6 a' \. Q9 athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby6 M6 D& s# ^/ \, \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 W% Q3 l. M9 Ldivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 D3 G2 ~# d. A; a @& e# VDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ [' e4 |% E0 f- j- Q- W$ [0 Aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 v: G$ q) x/ h: Q+ q' B
charge the fee defined by the state.- y! G/ b0 l3 g2 N/ @! @
2 B& t+ {4 s; Y9 q# v, g2 y, y" q
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( r2 A. ^6 }7 b$ v8 \2 pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, c; O# }2 ~8 n$ b2 eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
2 o$ q' K# {% Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# E9 L+ e) {' U. C
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: G2 u( E8 E! D6 P& E F
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
) I# t8 A7 n" i: y! h) zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! P9 o% Z s* j( U/ Uyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people2 G# M0 u9 X# c5 x' w# [
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" \4 I, h! u. v' }, s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( J/ x4 l) U# Q2 L8 \, g/ D9 e' Rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" K# A; [$ X% q2 T: p2 C* l1 Z) tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* f' ^$ C3 E! B
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 L4 U; t: O- Z5 \, Vare spaces.
! C! n3 |; S6 _3 p( ]9 U6 P2 Y, C8 F' Q8 G2 \" y( k' ]
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 A y* W7 R( V c' K0 e' Fto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 o1 H5 X+ b% n* C3 r
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 h2 J7 s: P9 z, ]9 h, S! l
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% }% g" I5 O6 A* g1 J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) X2 ?$ Y+ T; m# [) C
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 Q# K+ \8 {9 o; N3 W; b7 }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& U3 i, z0 S3 N5 K# f# T4 [; w! Scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 C0 h; _$ c8 g6 p
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., h: ^; `1 r! i0 b2 Q2 z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
