我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 q L' ]/ | Z0 u) P' ]2 t, Z) R
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; I ^ u: t0 D+ Mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- ?! x- `. {+ H+ C c
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. f. |6 E5 M C, R( S9 `
answers to our pointed questions.0 L* v$ b/ o# o: W
\& o0 P$ i b( GThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( J* S8 [% z% W- o. g& V# x& Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand @; f: U8 @% C& _: R* y2 x
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: b/ ~+ u& w- K; v$ @: e& h f. k! qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: Z. A! H& N/ F- Z0 F5 Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 z2 \: u( E+ ?* P0 @medical schools.& v# W' O2 I. ~1 ]9 v5 Q9 f0 `
+ I2 i( B' H( }/ g) t% K' CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' [0 J" W- A) U/ S( ]6 _2 u z
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% V* f9 Z8 R6 L6 ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ Y4 `4 f5 A+ O( Wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 f; u- I. a" J3 i" qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 m* Y P: Y3 N( M1 P, H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% ]8 f) m6 x0 f6 @
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
/ u6 c+ f, b( w* x& B7 gmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ x' V, ?, f1 n
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& [1 A- Q- }0 v/ R0 w5 rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 _6 K0 k5 p0 D; q) W h+ q. t
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: `1 K% l( a1 c6 o0 N5 w8 R4 ]
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people+ r& P; i# J! r0 |% Z5 d. H
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- ^2 {. A# S+ l- }; i; jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( }# j; B( p0 P+ L T# a6 m- C
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 a. Z5 s; I: O( J7 O, r1 ~. ?/ u
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., e' S6 X/ W& k
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: z2 v. |1 k, x4 ] d; G
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 R! E F. {& @; ocharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: p- a4 w9 H; ]: L
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
2 ^9 l- d0 b) O7 v4 s- d) lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 S- e7 t( [6 W O- L) atruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 O" g5 I: h+ x! X% v: hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ ~ Y5 f$ C0 v( m# |! }! {& mworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on$ A) E) ?6 P: I* t
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! h+ x" c7 U. y K& }
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 y9 @5 }7 C0 ]% {% X: `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 V4 R1 T: E, E" Z, U4 t4 Zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 P6 \) ]6 o3 `8 L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' _( C$ S. K! F t# Ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or1 x) a# e9 ?! ]
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 B% F8 f# `. P z D9 ^
are spaces.
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% v% P7 H1 G' y2 g, Q' QThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. }( e& `% k; A9 D) \( n% W) G! ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( c; f2 `0 t& T% Zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ m( Y0 M# e% b/ w( h+ C' f$ O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ r5 b4 p6 ^' v2 t0 ~6 W1 q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 o; x$ w6 Y1 ?% \1 T; G6 ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few. w p1 z( _& g3 o$ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 A2 X7 E+ ^4 jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' q2 d; ^/ n" U4 yis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned., ~, i- q* Q- q. ~2 d
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
