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( e! r4 b* c, L8 c( e0 z4 z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ j3 u" W* c2 ^2 ?8 t- v" r; n
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 t2 i. K( p3 h4 V* t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, C9 w$ r# W& k c/ B
answers to our pointed questions.! J( G! E% F/ E8 ]
1 o" W7 h a! x! M xThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 _/ i l( S* ]: v, O
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 T, t+ X; s! f, i5 Q. Z- Rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 \' ?( V9 R6 ]) ^- `% Y# C1 F
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. N( E ^* m; A) R' x
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) `( \% B$ n1 ^0 Y4 A- G; }, |# K
medical schools.
! H( {* N; D1 o$ t ^
: V- k2 p& i& u, I# [) EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ z" e8 B9 i! q$ y9 \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. [* K# a+ H9 c4 h2 Pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 W6 F+ B) R0 L# |8 Zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ a2 ~+ Z2 R7 [2 S5 a& Q4 C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to4 b% q3 ]3 x, w5 c; K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There Y# Y" R0 }3 M3 L q% _# |- v9 ^
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and$ j- S- H1 P: n
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ j, I2 Q5 {9 sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 h) X% f0 V+ }
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 { }8 b' O" a3 c% |! B
% p6 ~7 f1 }# V M( x8 h) m' SThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no G) P' H8 @* i" U& w/ P
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, T9 H. c# o" W5 `: I" v: V# m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! c% c) f1 @9 z: M
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 \- {7 f% S7 A5 R9 C; n
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, U! _- W, O+ L* e1 B) Dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) N0 U/ W0 n& s8 A6 B; k& X+ t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- N) f/ b$ c7 P( jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 Q3 ]: ^2 M: h, [$ }
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only9 q" u9 x5 s, }
charge the fee defined by the state.8 b% z# d2 y9 Y( x
7 x' T8 |( n ~2 V x V
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 O& i& B: V7 D1 o$ W9 o5 b! @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ C% ]" C! }; ^9 r7 ~3 L. aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% h0 R! ~7 N' Q0 h4 e3 ?- |+ Q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ F3 j+ q/ l B4 h( y$ ]: C vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 ]# V* X! o$ w8 E$ h0 f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 Q& }" k7 H+ a" p fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 z, `) \' @ V- Z3 r* ?you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- u5 v' P' a8 H6 q6 B$ htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 y& b8 t7 q: I/ }% ~hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 v7 }6 {! \+ X3 x, A! ^4 _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. S7 N/ M6 ^- e/ t8 |1 j
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
; C4 f1 S) G$ g# ^' C& N! qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 P6 v5 f4 W/ N* Dare spaces.+ t# {' z# D. _& v+ q9 m; Q# Q3 Y+ v, N
) z* P5 u2 ?, H2 HThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 G7 r( A( ~2 f p, T
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 N$ }7 M. D: d3 o: p# r) @* ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 u+ r L$ @. i1 g( Y9 g/ X6 S8 N
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
3 j/ @# K. S9 G7 q L; k2 Rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 W5 p% l: E6 u2 C$ D8 ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" ]4 [: C: m B" _. L5 Ynice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of7 H f" f) E9 n j( I
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 S; Z- o4 O2 \, ]7 @; E, j7 r9 Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.# r( e, B7 C' a$ E5 t" O7 l
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
