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
/ N0 d* L, C1 _standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
N6 r* V/ ]* q/ H" k+ c2 E3 eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 l) {/ Z3 `$ T" f# S+ c"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 a$ |1 R3 E, o, f
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
I) ]% c' P4 f# H45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 B' ?( O9 {' W9 u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ g0 k f7 I( x' L, efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams B% R: ?' }/ c Q9 ~% b8 A. e$ F
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 O# W# h/ K9 ^0 [medical schools.1 B5 n5 G* P/ T- w1 j4 T
9 d* w5 m" W, ^" ]/ B5 w% ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# q5 S+ e+ i7 `% V! l% ~( v
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 I# ^ [; P8 p0 M0 t' B4 R4 L8 N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% q6 w( `! G# \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
, L, n$ h/ |! U$ K) N5 S0 Pis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 E5 b% K* B" K! U% [over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There$ C( @+ T, n- y% m: e% e9 }* ?$ Q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 Z U7 ]1 ?9 {. V Vmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 ]# t# e$ u; b5 P5 z( l4 Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 L& N5 y4 B- {+ \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 O7 S: j) v# t' c
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: H' k" `- W6 Z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- `! b" `8 P" ~9 q& c* C: Phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 s& o7 K: e( _; }/ F5 o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 b t; z8 \+ [7 x
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% r4 [ n- {" X
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 q c8 j! ]8 p Z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" f$ s) a' ^2 `. q8 O; La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% ?) a- Q4 M. w" H, jcharge the fee defined by the state.7 A$ W$ y @/ M: _ J
& H; m3 K$ a- @% s* C7 XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 `$ f& s/ s4 Ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, E7 Q, f3 M! W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- q9 D& V6 e$ H& _! P, V
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ Y. k% g1 h& g J1 l h: m6 m6 Wseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 c3 Y! H, _5 j9 |0 ~5 v- X7 q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! y1 S9 ?9 h" t$ O* E$ {. \0 Y# a
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ c/ b7 t: S' y9 u4 h7 S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: T* m1 z& q3 m& s, j8 Wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch ^6 F G6 `0 C8 F$ e
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# X3 B% A5 B: o) l* v% U8 H
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want! f- O* Y! B4 O# c9 ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# Y* p( h. e6 f# B' W6 lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
9 E E `. O1 q+ ]are spaces.
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. O0 a" Z% T5 x% b1 OThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 U. C, A0 n. a( s3 K: h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 H3 O; ]4 W2 d$ Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the$ u0 @9 N: N: D1 ]8 \, r
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' N2 u- u7 M, g1 I G' O3 j, p4 K; Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 m: _* ?- _& _' q. f% c& fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) @- N2 W( ^9 d- E+ n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
0 t) c1 x8 H+ O. Rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 `% F: E2 P C+ O! r
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% l9 C6 Y! w! z8 n9 D We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
