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
# n+ p1 {, M) P* F, K! G0 Nstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; _) X9 d0 Y" U2 @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
2 c+ v& c- r5 n. q0 s"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* p! c* K8 g9 t g% h
answers to our pointed questions.) p7 W% l! ^8 A7 d, ]$ S
* r! n* o8 J4 W9 {* N- C, U9 x6 NThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,! T1 {3 ]9 d# m: E
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
7 p! D) n0 d, [+ X) p/ h/ B4 @# bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 A& b j9 a% T0 x6 `
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 w8 P! y) g5 _: N9 V9 A! H
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 O. u+ t/ C0 c3 d8 [
medical schools.7 ]( X* u, |5 }
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 G/ a( y6 y6 s. C3 Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- u0 I, b+ K+ y5 j5 g% ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
* O+ t1 p+ @; g& O1 h0 hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! r) _$ j/ h6 N8 r
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to; l* {' l5 S; H- M. h7 s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 @7 y+ ]! b6 b; k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, o$ L9 c* @2 ]5 }: f& ]! m/ Smostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) g ~5 O6 i! f9 @shortage which the government is addressing by converting some2 T4 x$ O* B" ?8 r( I' V
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no: x6 i' ~+ k% e; T4 Y$ U
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& W5 T! e* S& v( d1 b7 H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 _' Z0 t9 l q) k8 `have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 y1 e- [, @+ \: Tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ o: v1 ^/ o% c, M3 b5 b# rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! T/ m# s/ \1 U0 J
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 e$ |' u9 `. D9 q& zDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! j6 j: ]5 @( }" L" La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only" q# m% E% u; H$ D0 X
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get$ j6 w- W* n! L7 l s7 u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. Y) [; ~5 h% e& j. @. G3 yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% ]/ H/ h' q# ?/ n1 X' i( U5 D
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
' F9 B Z% B) _! O V6 G- }, z+ oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ }+ H% O6 C: G$ \ V* J( eworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
1 g1 s* T5 e' U; mschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# e+ G, v% h, O* ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' i2 f% ]% {4 l9 n/ M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" c, D$ P' Q# n/ c( ?hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 L& h' B x7 jpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
/ y/ f6 F' H9 L. c; T& Qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) @' E& s( y Z: Ubuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 E8 a F' Q( s) Y4 Pare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; M2 b+ L; g% Y. wto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
X+ n) X9 d8 H( v! [own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ @3 ] Q2 G: i0 f) b" ?40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: {; k7 \7 x% b+ _/ W' \/ e _parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' P: z8 [6 q( Abest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" ^/ }# N+ E" D- V, {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) i( {. e1 b" A+ ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it8 p- t5 O N7 A' U1 ^: a/ {0 q
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 E* G2 q. M2 y+ m( N% Y
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
