我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 f3 z& j2 ^6 U H0 @; i2 }8 Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ A7 t+ l0 M3 `5 _
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," B3 x% K+ J% }1 h; t
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
- ?# `. h* c4 w: Panswers to our pointed questions.
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& U2 S3 v& O0 z; H! tThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 M: _0 n3 S/ Y5 A; _/ }# G$ j$ B45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* H# ]7 m( }5 q* I; f
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) W4 E s- |) ` ~& qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 \ I e O6 r6 R" [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 `/ q: `9 w3 V& P; ?
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 c1 @1 J, E6 V2 a, {# a5 u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants2 w1 {! I$ K0 I1 t5 D7 X8 p
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 {" B3 O) `8 T) [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% J0 e+ E0 K/ M3 j! |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* i# q/ m* X- O7 F8 a; Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 }+ q% B6 X z/ o4 O: g- B% f! y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 g# w$ Z2 H9 @4 g( Rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 |" @, L) a" s3 c `0 M2 ~$ Z3 A
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
5 E: l" p5 H, U! @$ O$ b) Csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.8 K: H8 X2 ]6 O$ `1 g: j
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ T4 @) j9 [# }8 m) g% Eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
' D h+ a0 W, K# w( ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 u( x& U# ]! @" ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& |- W# h1 \& P8 D3 |- P5 Q2 ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! h! @' V" x$ [) H( A% W
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
9 a/ @0 k! K) G( Q" d: t$ [/ e1 Cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* \# m: a, r0 t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 N3 H* O5 x. T, Y4 D
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
. U! o1 _5 {1 }9 J+ `& @charge the fee defined by the state.# f* k6 X1 n! {1 O6 r& |) U2 ^8 V2 ~
" \' e( e* n: _! Y! ~5 c. aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 [8 }" q4 F# s; B% A
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. m( P" F' k+ Q$ f( z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 o" x& p8 T5 v* C
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 Z6 p; u) y7 Z
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: a$ }9 c9 B6 U* U
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! P" f5 O' l" s3 T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 @! O: L9 Y; [+ [8 \5 B% Cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" y. C. X' u& i. I0 m6 F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ }! i% w# P8 b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 P7 r$ E- b G9 m$ o0 h9 Y8 n
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# Q- m8 y1 g! I$ O/ N9 T8 K- F1 S1 B- sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ j. t, {" O: F0 Abuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& E2 Y3 ]$ _% P: W7 V; tare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 n/ a) h7 _0 L y: h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they/ _; S# X+ f7 z# Q* h( x* W
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# ]2 u9 m, E6 }) [. ]5 q
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' Z7 ^# K6 ]/ \& y0 h& aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 d6 ~) A; V1 {, j0 G& F; ?& v* }
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" H1 n" W. |( m& v) O* dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ O4 U& l1 l7 g
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. _. g/ U6 Z. ?2 Q0 i3 f% jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 |* l# B# o5 ^+ ]+ R) M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
