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
2 J' j& O( K- x+ ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ t/ B; O, x0 V, F3 B1 M
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ V5 a4 `# y. O. z @/ H/ U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( r; T$ y# U& Q( I% T, S! Sanswers to our pointed questions.
& t! H9 }% Z) ]; |% E2 ^! h5 C( G, Q
# `* a4 ^$ a$ m. P9 EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 J9 H8 |# M2 M0 y* }
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- E4 S( O3 Y9 U( j( f
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, [9 ^* v& c0 Z7 ]9 A, V t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 z1 U6 T+ y4 ]3 d1 E, n" l! d$ _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, K/ z# J6 y) b! s0 P$ x2 bmedical schools.
" G* f7 T+ l+ V2 }5 n" a( x
5 [# r1 |# O, G! h: oEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: n6 P) W4 K4 G9 p, W1 ~- _% @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 F+ s- A- y% e: i Z" y
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
, ^6 ^" M2 ~5 V) oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, G2 w4 f0 n) E4 Zis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; v) V( \/ @" t6 ^" [$ x: E/ K) T9 n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! y; s4 W1 ]" `! U( \# C% P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# G: X7 c l! }$ s; Z9 p3 _% T
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# ^0 y/ O: k7 }$ y7 p
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, d8 o: [# t# A0 b3 |; G' q isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
1 _ L$ s. J$ k- g" j* h
1 a! r' N$ O, J8 e) Y1 O$ fThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 `, z0 ~% C2 f2 [9 N, i. {private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. m# R! a, v& Z' rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: ^8 ^* ^- N# _3 f2 `+ H& ]have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, V& c; i/ U6 I4 Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 Q; x2 n" Q* c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
b. d' k! b3 T7 edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ g6 X6 d9 B. ^8 gDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; c3 Z+ k" O# U/ ~a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, Q, n" I! A8 q4 y% B& C
charge the fee defined by the state.
9 W C; O2 I' A* y ^( r4 b% `) U3 q
: L- R+ I% T0 D XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get( ]3 x4 Y& x3 l. z# P1 t/ q1 |
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; G5 z4 t8 V' a& s# xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) b: [7 w: g& Y0 T8 n$ E6 k: gtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 l+ u; s* z+ L! h5 F
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 O( R/ r Y; B9 k! s2 I* G; Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 s4 s% ^* Y. R( J. Y4 `( bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( d' f' k! `1 }
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
$ H6 y. x- A% A+ [- B1 D& v% Dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. Q" n6 z9 S4 `( ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: o! p, f. W, e1 Z) o7 z, upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want# a" z) `8 Q, L' N' C/ ~% H
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ o" }( V; d, i8 o
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& B& R. m& d* @, f/ i
are spaces.
8 |. C+ N4 O" S+ _ I. L1 }* T1 e$ w; Q; o
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi8 m" M! I; k2 G; z% G, g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 Z: D8 A2 H6 J( Q$ _6 \$ U" D
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ [( A$ |+ T4 J5 Z) r2 Z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* y( `6 L5 O+ Z A& d9 ]
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ a8 ^; I3 G4 Q( q5 O: sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 N! q0 p' h) |3 X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 G/ n/ a4 l; D5 h hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 q$ ]0 F; R6 W2 L, V1 dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! Z- U$ r- N0 e9 c/ p- q) X
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
