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- Z1 P# G+ W* d" M0 y3 y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( I0 o# P4 c* F& n& ~% con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 w( r- e0 M% E. P; O0 s# p6 R
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( I& X- M" j _' ]answers to our pointed questions.$ O; \* w g) h: Z+ C' h. Q+ ~
( _0 c. [% n3 s% r: j* V% TThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,/ ~/ S! J; `6 I9 b) G( \. t" P0 C
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: Y3 s5 b2 M2 E8 ~8 v" @out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ R2 y% J- P( e! xfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
o" B/ `" l6 k" r; ^5 Zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, a: a3 O* z5 q4 C1 }
medical schools.0 x$ f7 y- W) {/ A. g
" R7 k6 y* b6 B5 }3 m3 v4 uEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" [2 Z) ^. e& L w, B
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- |8 e) `! ]/ d
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- W7 e9 u3 l7 M# C2 }0 {& n: g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% I, l/ E# L, u+ V; e$ Iis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
* _1 d6 Y" u# w( B1 Z. i Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& g9 K: j- `9 r7 f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and2 j- S, N" i$ u& B' ]
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
- j7 X( r% U, [0 Y, {2 q, c0 Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
0 R+ q+ I0 r7 qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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1 i6 R8 h0 _& E7 |The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 X+ w% n" A8 [- ~% W0 kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 e4 D3 D/ S$ H& H$ b7 f0 G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 ? S+ z, {& ?( z: A
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( H2 l$ k+ n1 ? h2 q5 Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
8 E( h/ h- \( m1 r0 @+ Fsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% D1 a4 h5 X. l' s$ y
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.- q$ r) J0 i1 j3 N( V
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% L& }4 x6 B2 i; fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( H4 Q9 G' ?, f/ ^4 t( w( F
charge the fee defined by the state.; z+ `6 B E- w2 d% L7 Q. o8 S9 x
& r" V" s' `) B I* F! B/ }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, T& X* l% `/ O4 Z) E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type) {" H3 k$ s( _" ~' P, R
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; T6 H6 w( ~3 H/ l9 z% L X2 Ctruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 e& Q# Y& W& ?; K \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the1 z. `# p! {% J) @5 c0 ]7 R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, _% ?1 U, v: s5 H1 I+ H# s( Q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" m* f, S6 p# P- q- n
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
# n# u2 c8 v" Utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( \2 f: Y+ S: N' f+ e# I6 ]
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' y$ g) w1 p$ s6 q$ ~$ y& i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want, p& I# r6 N q. j8 y
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, r B( }4 U- I% v1 i( k. C; }. Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* V' v( Q# Y7 ~* N% I+ c
are spaces.' [% u& G9 K" p$ w! M+ Y3 n: r; v
& o+ D# g* t5 s0 P1 O' cThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) p: s7 ~; M4 N" B, ]# oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( I; b2 x3 t7 Q. q0 Rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the+ L, A0 f, A# G0 _! i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 z! I7 A; ~1 \) ]parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 j* ~: l! E# c9 ]8 A% r8 N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few j% X0 p$ U, U; A1 r) i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% O8 ~( V; I% W) Acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
3 y' B% w3 o6 X& |! uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ c; T" Z6 ]7 B2 @. m& @ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
