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
, u* B: e' h4 s5 W5 Bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
! l; d5 W( V/ Kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 ?2 ]9 z: |5 w7 U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ F1 E+ o* W# Y' ]answers to our pointed questions.6 n9 ^8 H) f5 }6 t) b
! a4 U7 x1 L$ [/ W% O7 VThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,3 |2 O9 r6 E# |" Q. ]6 O
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand, ?, y0 F$ p) j5 Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
m _$ }/ m; [: Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 x( w2 p t# @$ R ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
+ y7 k) j" w" Q1 `/ ^% Rmedical schools.! K( n: ^) _" Q$ d4 _/ [$ O
! }) ]9 c+ q% q/ d4 q8 {* PEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 C$ R( z1 M" P% D( K2 U8 e
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. W2 A/ s; h- y) pto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years; Z: a. k* f4 K6 I& ?0 U( N2 Q
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- P( Q5 S$ i: d3 q) ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( V @, S$ h- L8 _, pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" [8 V$ w# u F+ y& d+ mseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# n J# F9 B/ f3 c- r' B+ A) R
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ j0 M+ H. J1 [( }8 zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, m; S- A) i2 f) csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
5 l" v) |, q, }4 |4 p" Z" A$ F
+ k& _5 m" f" D9 M& [6 b9 LThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
& p, g; Y. F. T1 N" rprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! O' f, _( |4 ~
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 G8 Q n4 [* B$ V( h6 Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 O% C+ q! A. _$ z& rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& Q( ~ n7 V5 F9 `4 k* l" Rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high& N2 P l5 h0 u) X' e
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: r3 f# c; M& o9 F* kDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 R7 L2 B4 ~% W( H& Q: }
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only# H( b* }; _% `* J4 `5 ~ O
charge the fee defined by the state.
& _8 L0 u$ \. }; d
' m# K. |/ Q+ [" w/ t! TThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
+ x3 a% Z3 J' ?& a2 `# F* g zon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ y$ @9 F8 M& u+ m3 [) rof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
* j% n6 R0 P( Vtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ I; k' D3 e+ F0 {
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 F, h$ P- _8 t: }' P/ U& _working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
J7 p+ U2 @/ Q5 V& ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 {0 t' }3 `, _; z* f1 G9 f
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ O+ K) Z3 z* T( Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ A& y$ N. \% t* l% \6 U; [* D
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" q1 n% S5 C e& s I* J3 t. upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& \+ X. H9 j7 i$ `to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* }& c1 E$ J# D% J9 c( }
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 M7 c# v- [) o. |; u
are spaces.5 S* z/ Z" u5 h8 x9 u3 ]! q7 V8 M
" ]- I: J, K7 M. E5 FThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 T. V' ]7 _" V( ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& R9 `+ Y7 G* Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& a" a/ ?5 H2 j/ A' Y! |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& t. g# n" k$ Xparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 o3 V2 M+ ]' B7 G$ W, U
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 \% E: F/ K, w o N2 mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 f6 V" Y5 C, @ f9 o+ t
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 C# D3 [3 O4 W M5 W, a: ^0 Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ a! ~7 x: o) W ]% g) m. ]# s- _! O0 [ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
