我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 A c+ \2 _2 Y$ e3 ^: b8 O
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 L$ q, k7 @6 h i1 D0 n! \
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, i6 [0 C4 M$ p+ K
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# n" b, A: h: H8 S7 m9 F1 ?
answers to our pointed questions.! X2 P: \& d# R+ _3 \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) @8 f; P, V1 u# m: Z* \0 k& Z# w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ F* x" q2 V1 W$ {! m; Kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% X/ F4 @: Y0 x6 u/ O1 k
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 o: o3 R: I( k: r5 A& h$ g1 V% xto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
* C9 q8 d7 J: E9 A, @+ f! Imedical schools.0 W. y! v) C! a' ] F4 N* x
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! q6 m# K9 m) E! Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 k a! O" ^4 \3 o7 nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
& a7 U) d9 [/ N# A* b; Passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( f8 f% l. j+ t4 fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to& e1 f: u6 Z# U% b# l- R
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ f% J+ o/ h. \: J/ x
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* q, j( W& w$ f% }6 k" Z* Xmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 f: Q8 S' k% y( |/ cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, U) S6 s8 l# y1 osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
, l- ^, ?2 |8 d2 x1 V& ~private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- a. M m+ j! ~3 I5 ]- u
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
& ?6 l9 N( z2 [1 Y0 n ?have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( \( L+ ^3 n% M( i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 g; n% v3 Y" W1 v. c% tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ R7 R/ J. q: Y; w E! B; K
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 q+ ^( B) q1 c! ^Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 d: R9 y7 y+ K% Ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
, q- O0 j r( G3 [: Z% B: e* F/ Hcharge the fee defined by the state.3 f" X8 }; Y; ^. ^' g7 F
8 c, q: }1 O l1 _5 gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" G2 k: ]* J, K$ r/ X V1 Gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 H& N" C, R+ [1 _7 t5 x/ f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big, ^% n8 \7 I/ F0 u( f. |/ U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 m, M/ |% t2 p: D' kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& v( X: H$ m' a& X9 Q1 K. f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on" n7 b7 ?- c. O- }- K% y. p
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& h6 m) z% L% O, U9 u! t
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& l- `( Y9 L+ U$ b7 e5 N" ^trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
`9 }- Y+ J7 P1 t0 U# B7 _8 n* ~hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
# _0 p- P' M- ~# V Epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' j2 z& D% D1 W2 V/ _/ t5 T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
r, o- Q% S3 _) [* }6 ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 Z' X0 F1 d- s6 w) r
are spaces.- j+ `$ T: v" m' G# x5 L
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 Q( `* I* [& g
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 A+ b5 k/ N# P. B" y( W% n% M
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' N0 p9 z" ?2 @( u( w
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 z7 R: u& K- k& N- S3 sparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 D2 E0 j B, T* |" Wbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 ?% _; d1 T7 d6 }* T p2 L
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
( I2 b! O$ _ l6 ]& Ucar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! z( f5 H7 {: O9 p) a* u
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- d; S$ k& U% g- |, n7 R We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
