我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living7 p. {; K: W( i1 p6 `
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 F9 q2 M- G1 K7 N; a/ p Y: r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% e, Q5 Z' e2 a0 D0 e"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& I) ~, K( m% {2 @5 K4 p
answers to our pointed questions.
! F2 v3 S+ T/ ]. q! @8 y$ ?
$ L" z2 w# v! T0 \* W! bThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black, l' V5 A" l3 `/ {
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 g. C0 W! u8 ?! B- s) ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is F2 D; P' x: h9 g% S# a
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ k; j5 L0 y5 Z# }6 Y; L1 F* v
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
6 Y) q- M# ]1 U) w' Rmedical schools.
2 ]% v% M/ R6 f y( X6 t$ g1 f- J5 a, i& g! |' N \
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- i1 J6 g' ]. W. ]% h2 y0 y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 V% T9 D$ `, a) G/ f1 p" {. |to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 F2 W; h) r( ?: ~assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
3 _, N+ C' p8 O: z/ B! o/ ~' X7 vis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to a- |5 N0 |. N3 [) h% ^
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 U1 J" I- o9 r- v& v1 e7 D6 f' g ?
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
4 N2 X' h4 l% O6 k' V0 ?mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 ~, {8 z0 d* b; _, h
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% t" B; e s* z' J$ [sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
! D6 L0 U' M& K0 f) C) z4 I% s/ b. y: w' ?+ A
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 S- |( N. |$ s1 M* D2 M" ^% J3 \4 M- Z
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 o4 C$ H9 O# l; C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 h. A7 I u4 E
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" y6 t3 w6 _+ q ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! j' K( V6 Q* r7 u" ?1 c: z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- @2 N6 i5 p! O F$ s+ B- w0 t& _divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.! ^! k+ M E' |6 Q4 k V6 q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) \7 T6 S* ^6 w- [9 T" C& La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! S) I2 L0 I5 o* U" C
charge the fee defined by the state.* x* W- {- E0 r& `- W; z+ A
& p" t6 h! e# E' |7 d$ G cThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 _* K- d& B2 N5 E# G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 v/ [* p6 C; k. C$ v8 y4 \
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big. A% ?/ U. o0 |0 @0 P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 c8 {8 }# x- X3 s, xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ Q; u8 o S0 K% a
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, W) I4 y s0 V. `8 m& H. ?7 d, u% h
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& P9 ~$ s5 P8 @6 Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- s& D: t* O( |
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 }1 d' L$ P7 ]! ?4 m) u e
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% G, R8 n) D; y& a5 ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" v: x+ o) j% Y+ o2 e$ L1 U' U
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& l( Z- m% F- t9 W( q
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( f7 G/ A8 K- \" O, W( v
are spaces.
$ S9 n$ X* _& `! j c- B
2 k# f e0 Y& H- T) nThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi3 S2 e/ L O: D
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ l. ]- k+ U3 d, G' T$ }2 F
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" t( v9 Y |$ H% ?/ ~5 G7 X40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 v* E! h' d. Q5 c* g% ^. b
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 S! A% q _. V1 H. h
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few b7 A; W1 u) h+ Y) k
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# E( l$ u' i. L0 a3 A8 z8 _car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, M6 T1 {5 p5 b9 y6 v% R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ m5 ^- ]2 {6 G
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
