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
/ h( a( R5 y' astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 ^3 g& d$ v# \$ B+ {) S& a Non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
{6 D* g: {0 \7 Z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ }- s. ^9 ?: r. B- n, r9 E: h: U
answers to our pointed questions.
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, {% R# v$ I9 A3 M( TThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
9 n5 c5 |" [0 [* w7 \45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% m4 j6 ]* S+ Q9 x- N/ J' q" n9 @2 nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 i1 y3 c6 X" O, e8 M9 D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams, U# A1 |% d) o) D8 @
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) t9 Y8 s/ d& R0 l* P8 F3 W
medical schools.4 }! U6 _- s, V, Y
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the O, N& P( V+ m# d/ J6 _$ A# k
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& U8 ^& e& ^! u: K; {# R. w: l
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 F3 [' M1 o3 i3 H) _
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# a5 O# g1 o2 U$ \is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 v7 ?, `9 m$ R0 ?- cover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: B9 _! j1 S5 ^! s* N; hseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- v( O( l/ a L4 E& Y1 gmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk% X0 p. B/ J/ i3 d- `! [0 f
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some" L( G" ]+ S l; `' {! V: A
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 E3 T+ ?0 H+ L- m
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( h* h" F* _6 [+ b* `; \2 J
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 K& b0 |* r4 khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# P0 l# ]' i2 J, w8 d' q" Z; V5 `7 Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# I; n9 e$ k- u+ H3 lsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- D2 H$ P* P& z9 j9 @ W
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." l/ s( k' f- }% ]
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ E+ J' q% G* A# W0 M
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" w% \+ a* T3 {: _" c K
charge the fee defined by the state.. v% a6 X3 p* B6 r/ |9 s2 B
5 X4 p% q W" c: i- u( \3 x* l0 UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ D. ?+ N/ U: ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ {" F: m( e( F; A7 Dof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ \# H1 U* q# A+ @& z, M0 q) u& @truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel; ^, Y3 b0 f ?8 S+ X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 v$ ~2 g3 s# \% n3 bworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' U5 R2 i% m! _* C: M/ A
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
N' [* o8 J8 Z+ |you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people C6 l9 l4 i5 N8 ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) t) @# N- z5 N0 J! A* J, ehiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- X# k' B9 U" \ X; r* j2 ]9 npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; ~: p c7 X. o, A: Lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
2 ? ~+ ?$ g7 e' T2 Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& U9 [3 o) t! C' z% |9 R
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; q! | k4 V& I6 f5 w
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, |# @3 n) n1 r' G; R' a5 J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 Q. G6 ]: f( ?# c8 K8 m40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 v3 m3 y1 _. k+ ?( v$ d" T
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! K7 k+ l9 W) T
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 i) b6 p D& t' Z. J
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ R+ E% V; X7 x+ V6 b( R5 j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' H) \! [, j5 Y: c% T
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.& l' e- R3 ^( ]- k" @+ h
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
