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. ? t# X# z0 i2 A4 O
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- A" L" {9 J' X4 p, b' b2 o
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; @ ^" s8 v0 m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ j' }: m+ b1 Y: q
answers to our pointed questions.
0 |/ O: t) _4 B! f5 j( [( t7 E8 V8 M6 J
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, i, E7 p8 p0 V- X0 l7 F0 h
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, N; l0 C1 b/ O3 r0 J9 b, y) F- B3 {out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 b* l! m D' G% }; `free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams- A7 t) u) A# T- a6 X M
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are7 U% u3 X: a2 I# S$ B( ^% V! D% X
medical schools.0 m/ d# F Y' S- k
2 ]) D I7 r4 U8 _7 |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 x: T2 L4 ?2 x9 c0 Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 i% O+ j" G7 o% H7 i9 uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 r6 u) x) j3 K5 E
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 i5 }# L! ^8 C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 L; c7 U& F& z* o. ?+ p# Y- Qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% F( Y5 t2 j: ^) f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 U7 t1 x0 i3 c1 U
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% H B. s: O! C8 P6 c' Rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ t( o/ n3 D& {$ g6 Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 B( A2 F- {3 a; c! { ^! M9 h
& Q+ O2 L7 A4 v6 H1 F
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* k; U1 E7 M0 J. ^' k* o, Y/ ^. K- L
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% }5 V2 J' ]. }! K3 _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people# R; R, w. [) c9 `" W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% g( O1 y) @% Y/ A8 R' W6 {* Fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby, M) h) A4 k8 r0 G+ L" m
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. U! B3 u; |) L# F8 _9 {
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
( O$ v" [, {' `; O9 WDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ `( O; _& t$ m6 H' o
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 J, ] @7 [$ s( W2 vcharge the fee defined by the state.9 N/ J/ A% r8 X& U/ ?
/ W" V0 ?( _8 P/ n cThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 m9 @: w" t z0 P+ r* aon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
$ V# u# H0 e2 _9 M7 v! X/ Jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, Z) Z( o# U4 Y3 j, L! m0 Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 S& P; t9 x i% L' t
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
7 N A5 {( M( h. P; j' ?working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; J: F" l* }, B, o4 w" V$ Sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 e1 P. B( [" B+ ?) | m% W- wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: I: M0 Q! Z/ A# ?% B5 Z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# P! n' g% }- p) }1 d+ n$ m
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 f' l. |: [# ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* Z; g- n1 \6 ]4 Y+ t9 K( _4 |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 C. ~1 B& Z! ]: C3 D8 g ?& sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 M. l- C5 o6 G. c6 i
are spaces.
$ U$ }$ D' m; Q. w4 w* R
+ O0 m! O! P9 d! wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! \, x u1 t S+ t' N
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 F E4 ], d+ Z1 M7 vown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' p7 B0 S, }3 @9 k o40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ v. Z+ R) J/ Y" z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) f: R* D8 D; b! k; a: k! d6 _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. z5 L6 D- Y4 G! @9 Enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ y- v& t) K5 m( q# tcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 \, c9 `6 k o' `0 u& S% ^* lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
1 k/ F+ v% i" u" Y2 y/ w4 O We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
