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( |, a6 H8 `+ _/ s! v4 u
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 O( r; H" k( {: p4 z' Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 a4 G3 S- \. |3 M' U J
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 t L, t4 k' w, f( wanswers to our pointed questions.+ r4 `4 H6 s' N
* p) c# R6 p* L$ ~) y. j0 XThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( G' U- L7 N9 T- F+ q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 ? m a1 q7 P% H2 R3 lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 Y6 o2 T8 l+ r9 b3 R
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 p; x* M# V$ C4 h& g$ X
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 U3 Y3 I: j: Ymedical schools.
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0 A X& M' _6 f. ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( f) ^6 l. A, f- F! c
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ \/ F) Z( d1 y9 b4 t& q" W" `to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! t' w* J* H) w
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; o* b- z# l' i9 p# L5 @7 j
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 F) C9 q9 a; S* ~( pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 i% U, n3 u5 K% k# x, ^seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ Y7 w' c R, N# S% B( t9 |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& ^( G* {3 U, g+ u. w. m# ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some& s* b2 I/ C- W8 I% T4 z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 b5 `* N v" z9 o: |
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ }) D8 I9 K3 X6 ^private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- U; S# l: _7 ?$ @9 y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 Z( d- K. f! xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
) a. h) }3 R# k$ P* o- m) l! Mthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 ]& }7 T! L6 q+ e9 G/ Vsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high z. g/ W% d! M$ n/ I
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( d1 o" U( k7 | C% @" X
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* g/ _5 S! N6 w! M+ N# |a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 X) L+ H4 a" s
charge the fee defined by the state., j) Q7 w3 [/ q
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% K! H- p: J- F, c" j! {( M
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 Z8 y4 ?4 M: g7 ~8 bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big8 L! O- j6 B! X' E- Z) _: Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# q$ U- V. Z) }9 u+ P- g1 A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! d: {4 ]) P. n( h) b# v4 w9 _& V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! V0 b' o& Y2 p& Z+ V4 ^' [7 ?4 j2 z
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 ?, u) `# l# p
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 u# p: Y9 S9 m- e
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* W5 L8 B" e x8 B: k. dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( h; p6 W! ]& ^2 Z0 G H# C
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 _; ~0 J; J$ p }9 ~% \to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. p0 I5 x& y9 G( z% n7 k/ ~ Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ j/ u; @) v* ~
are spaces.. l) R8 r9 ^' O8 Q7 w
z/ p" `$ ]% P S" C4 AThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 A( X) X/ f. C R
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 Y' P- D- u, Z& J4 i5 w; I xown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 k: p! o7 J G7 U) q$ M- L
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
5 I! e0 T7 t" U$ i, \8 Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 [, {3 ]; K, k, c3 R3 f
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
- Y9 t2 F$ b# N$ {9 b7 }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( v" l5 Q1 ^0 N* ycar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it- i+ N8 W/ v. L4 Z: x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: v: V/ l; v5 ]; R1 O We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
