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
/ X5 j$ n- a8 D' Rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" L; h. t5 z- Q& a
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 C- B" R# m! j& u; k"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 @- u1 p% h2 Hanswers to our pointed questions.% l! i6 Y' f8 I. H l+ h
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 c' Q" J0 ?. o% `' `/ f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 ~; D7 ^/ d1 x+ O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ Q" ~- x( e8 _8 t0 t# U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ G5 `# R+ k- Y% n1 k4 y# p- n% pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! F& u& O( t) k) C% |- i
medical schools.5 M, x, I, I% K" _
5 @3 i% V) z9 |$ N- eEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& S% H) t9 t: q) M Y$ dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 @4 G8 \; t& ?( P1 Q7 Q" {to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 ]& t4 t g i) E
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! N8 L4 v% q B9 G* J( q% g4 V
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
d% ?. O3 P( P9 x( tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" j. r) d0 s* `4 U' X. Z0 }
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: Q3 o* h# f) Z! \2 f: z: kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* B" h2 _! p0 r4 O, R! s w" jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 ~0 R5 M+ }# n; b' i2 Ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) m) ^. Z6 A' E, V4 Q. d
9 I; d4 l% R6 ?3 ]! f: E3 y8 Q* DThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& b7 z4 u9 M8 g/ |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; R) X9 a$ {: esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 _- J$ j" `! j5 J" rhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! S" N! n) K* l; Q# |4 `thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ L5 T% p/ K6 d1 g- ?. lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 C1 |) N) m* ?7 \* E
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 H# s1 z F9 cDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 M4 x' U/ K, o/ ^! c' N S7 }8 Ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
. Z. p. S7 K3 h# N% o9 s5 Vcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ P5 N- r* ~' k9 o" J0 A4 i
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type/ u7 e! N# N6 _- J$ _$ y3 [/ R& M! ]
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big* M2 U/ a9 w2 T# q3 [
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% y4 a5 P# }) W$ V% }# N
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 U! @2 Z. P o% |. A2 H$ [
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# V2 ?7 w& D% Y9 w q8 p8 ]6 Ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ w* U6 [6 \- C! T
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 l! e. r) ?1 j: j0 S8 ?3 r
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 b9 r6 V* k$ C" Z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 h& s+ _) ] i wpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ I0 N+ ~/ ~- ?to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; n3 }4 i; U& o9 T4 l0 lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 T2 h$ D1 D+ c' g5 Z
are spaces.
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' W H" O* M8 \$ x' sThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 O/ n9 z% a8 X
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 E( L* r) b3 A3 I3 |$ s! J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: P2 U" W% Q0 [
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# v( B3 D9 j7 ?4 ?
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 U# h* L p: |8 sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few& m: p& r" Z1 T
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ y, k. Q; ]9 R- f! b0 {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, V% f& @6 x7 Y" W q7 ]6 Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- l. c2 D% c8 J- p
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
