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
9 h a; P. M4 d# Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; @( T3 ]8 x2 }on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; m; \' i) E( D# k3 h8 n, j
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ \+ F ^2 X$ Z: g# y
answers to our pointed questions.5 G: ~( ? S( j0 g2 N' E) b
; I0 |8 X% Y- a2 v4 ~The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,* R$ T" d" B: q1 t9 n* |, ]; z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! m+ I: J9 }: C, p& [+ I fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: k! d7 G& }9 s1 Y- l9 v% g
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams _1 T* u" s Q) y$ |7 ~( T, t
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 X- M( o0 ?6 A) Y8 W- K
medical schools./ f1 k& f6 o2 f0 S# w, O( i3 B8 X
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* G- d, N! A, Q0 \- vgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 g+ p& { Q0 i- q1 J; Eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" G! C$ Z9 E% c' z( Xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba' S: M* F& a( @# ^0 N. ~
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ F7 D; |) w4 W$ [1 W
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' g: B" }' l, q; A1 A
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 ?5 |. K# |$ a6 ^
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 \- m: g$ q+ Q+ m6 B Jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: Q" X: R) K* o9 f8 U' c8 gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 G- u/ Z$ j! e6 w6 E& P
8 L: e# L3 {9 Q2 i; Q+ J, t' VThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 z2 p' N* Z. [: H, w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- i6 F: y" [! H" f& |supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& f/ ?( W$ F0 O
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ Q* I$ ^' Q8 J* _% K& v% o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. e; K9 Z, B# F$ Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 K6 O3 k9 t5 F: xdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
4 F! t4 ]& H2 i1 Z: k; PDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 u8 m# g1 ^* Y: Ma lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 K5 h* @2 C B! Y! o2 ncharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 a7 Z. q% @; E$ u2 l- [# z8 n0 V' w
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% z4 K4 I6 m8 R# k: K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 m3 o" f+ X. }/ T
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel3 n/ _7 J8 V3 t
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( j, F V7 J2 H/ r# cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 ^; F. V9 m8 Eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if+ s/ O2 B: O& @# j' Q2 r4 d2 `0 J6 s
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* O, o. A: U; E a6 x
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch. o2 D8 G2 V* y/ y4 j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: f4 M' f+ B7 ?; C* A: D: D
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. }" h3 x+ C7 r8 f9 W
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or# m" C* s4 n7 ]5 X" @
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; s u& K2 @% G" O
are spaces.3 c, s1 @: G3 A+ P# r6 K* Y% M+ a
9 N1 A. c2 p: X2 YThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# v5 r6 q2 M) b- v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% l3 x/ D7 W1 E4 C6 Q$ oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the1 h& i; u+ Z* Y" S3 t% C o' r
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; @8 B/ A: f$ p; {; ?, R5 i6 I
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 y* Y* ?" p+ W5 t+ D( N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ \/ Q+ E2 P! i0 r5 enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 R3 `4 o$ I6 `9 W+ [0 {# d3 Vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ D& l0 \6 W) ?
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 h, y" a' H: l5 z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
