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! H7 \5 G/ B0 ~4 h$ g* }- P/ U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" j' r6 n( ?" k* T6 y& won a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,+ }3 V" v" i: S
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
]8 N) N% N3 y5 D+ f( Nanswers to our pointed questions./ l- B3 M! F2 x) x, k
7 q8 ?$ R2 _* X% O- wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 A+ V- |0 F+ r45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
- V4 Q3 W8 b9 t) aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 P7 [0 k& ^4 }5 [9 f/ Dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& l3 t; R& V2 {3 l) gto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 U! R" P4 Z+ a* F3 `4 Z$ \* f
medical schools.
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- H; ^+ \- m; T6 QEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 S( ]/ Q) h5 i6 h$ m) A8 U8 B
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 @+ }4 S7 p l% J, S0 Uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) G( F3 u2 N3 z2 ?" s# {# p1 Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# {; V' ~2 M: }* F9 yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
( W' k3 y: O. b7 dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 ~0 S+ N7 r0 I2 [# q- b
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' _! e9 D2 l4 a# x
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 V4 g) W ^" x3 kshortage which the government is addressing by converting some& x: E/ R+ d3 }: G, {3 l
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* _. \8 w) {' R0 Y& }2 Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. r9 [, }% M6 n/ |6 e" u/ H' hsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) \- Y; i$ ~" ]0 x; p# I. H9 Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 D% ]* ` q( X
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, h6 j, `. g* |* r0 R/ ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 R# E- C" O: {; U
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* f% Q1 N7 P k9 }* V" LDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: K9 w, A6 G3 a# `8 E/ n1 p: {/ na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 R; Z2 ~* g9 K }
charge the fee defined by the state." G* B# f" R, B0 B( V. b& ^; T3 F
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- h$ x2 D, b: q- }* a" X7 ^3 J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type7 d/ o6 F3 A+ k! S2 I
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 p$ \5 z% i' ?$ V: n+ {4 v
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. J9 s1 W6 a4 ^7 y( Q1 Y5 v
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 w2 C+ D; F* L& ?( Q/ }' U; S4 x
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) Z" m& `6 y+ ?3 ]* n- _+ ?# P
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if: L' V2 c8 i, }9 L( i+ J& Z* ~
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
$ g2 y2 }2 c; @' T+ W5 Otrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 T" @7 T; l9 I1 ~6 |# Hhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
* U& t# ~+ A& f0 |people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 p. u$ x' K$ F9 u- e
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' O; X+ L/ q! f- y( C( b: R
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 e( b1 ?* j6 Z
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
. M4 M+ A9 _; lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) E& Z3 r6 s0 a8 i; a$ Q3 V
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the! c3 _' [/ U# e7 u2 Z9 T x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; R! m! i% K3 B' D! _4 {7 G, g
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, _" v9 Y5 A" s
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) F! @& O8 ]8 |- m9 u0 j2 L6 i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ k7 b- I9 H" w* W# @5 vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! g& h# d* o# |& ]1 t: u
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." O8 e7 F4 R7 F/ k6 E& |) ?
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
