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
! s6 Y8 d+ L! h6 u$ S. {9 cstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! F: U# F7 ~8 y9 R5 Q1 B& A- M( @+ F
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,9 X8 N: K! A0 [8 v6 b+ U, i
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 p! l2 h$ m j' q. t0 {answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( v1 R* I( @- g
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand- z' _7 n: B/ O, Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
`) S5 p2 |3 d0 H! r+ Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) I6 R' a" M+ e. `; L( f) N9 [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 l3 l+ ]( P9 y! i, m4 Zmedical schools.
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9 _4 h% N* T" ^& c0 x5 Y* C! U. `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the5 L6 W' x7 ?3 O# `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
5 x. }( X9 k! e- C s( dto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 \6 ]+ ]& T3 D1 V% f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
2 ]* V3 X& n4 B$ ^0 r$ B3 b0 Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 u- C; L+ I. N% t0 ]/ Lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' s/ R' [) |; u9 ~' I9 q6 ]6 tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& Z5 n0 j# D& p6 V
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk( A- b: Y% T2 f. n
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ w8 ^# c# K; o8 w# msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( @" `: U4 E! ?3 ?
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no, \- G9 t% Z1 h6 i$ v/ X4 J
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 @8 f' z4 A# S2 V( x" ~# q9 k4 Gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# Q1 X' U9 v- M: |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 {. n) ^; P% ~/ z% Y
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( V$ v) O/ i7 A# A" m8 W9 p/ [
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# n! u c9 @2 {+ S1 p
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" @' ]. ]' U, N7 ADivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 I, G, [; r4 e$ Pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- _7 Y4 }) ?& C0 l
charge the fee defined by the state.; x1 y) [% p3 w5 [
' K2 `* e/ j- p2 \4 N% f8 `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 P& T$ l- d& K' q( x* T4 F
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, ]5 M/ P+ T ^+ u( Z y7 Q, x6 X
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# K9 y7 `! `0 L
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' r( W5 z: x) r6 J7 T9 A* J ~5 O
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ E) ?: r( {# w( Q. G7 O' b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on& ~; R: c" |0 j8 l& \, g; K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ e. }/ z- W! L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ D2 F3 n% e2 `6 htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! Z# N8 I9 R9 t( B
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that F6 ^+ L( \3 I1 J' O
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 l4 C8 L' u, o+ n: eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 F. @3 C+ L" [3 U1 o' kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* B& \& C; B; w
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
2 P' O8 N' j3 N8 tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they S1 W% G- [! U3 U% j2 V
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the. _- H; t! t/ ]" g
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% V; T7 @) h2 }7 N7 W
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 @0 _/ o4 V# Y$ ~( Q6 J5 F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
P" ?' ?/ E/ L3 X7 y8 ]! K B! unice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of n3 c' ]7 W& g7 R
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( o5 F- j: U' e$ S* s
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 Y! r& d7 ^- x1 g/ z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
