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* W, W3 A) M% o, H, w
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 b: j2 D- B ^) t% g T+ c" g$ }
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 h8 l3 w4 C6 e"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, w* X9 [' Y) f! l& U; k
answers to our pointed questions.4 j! x( m0 U% v3 [& _8 ~
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
. Q( }/ c# @- v7 [2 U1 |45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ I7 c- H" _$ \, ?7 h- |: l7 ~" `
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& w/ Z) x( R0 \" N$ }1 Z0 ]# H' bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. e+ d1 J# S% D/ F/ h1 Z# a2 `
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' ]) d, r* F# B: Gmedical schools.
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: a7 X5 s& c! z% ~- wEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, l3 P: @$ v! ?7 h9 A; _
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
, P) }+ h. x7 A) Y. Xto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( N/ j6 F' a! Z0 E; D! ] iassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) {: l- W% o; k* n+ l7 V
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ p1 R% Q ?$ Z6 Aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There/ ?% G. P. N1 T% X
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 G- G1 t0 U' j' w( U+ z$ v' N0 m
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ S4 B- Z3 a- J
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, G* R5 A* L! m7 csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no' }" G5 _, M2 o
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
4 y8 \6 ~* C0 r5 U( {8 msupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people" Q- _8 ^; L$ L& n- L
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
( z$ ^! |- O ]1 f# Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- p- p: Z; r4 \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! L: }* l- ?* e" p, h
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 J6 }" f6 F" j lDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When; a1 ~/ } i& ?8 q7 j% P I
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 y2 }. [* H: `* f# w2 l: f
charge the fee defined by the state.3 P( r# j( L1 v; h- y( m
8 m7 {+ ]# G5 T w JThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: H2 E8 Z8 p' G2 con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, n. W6 E6 M3 `: m; T3 X8 K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! `! G0 y& U8 E0 W: d4 Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 y+ F) C/ c9 O
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& E$ D& V2 Q* v* n, H1 L
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 M; S! ?8 u f9 Q' r$ n" O
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if- b W* O. m2 M( G
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( o7 d6 ~- |$ n, m! v* W1 Y0 K: c dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ I7 f, Q& I7 [& m6 u P
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 c1 I$ D& o9 I' A2 \6 S+ W1 @& Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 G4 j7 v/ {1 G6 b5 J$ Z# g
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 K- l- G: ^: h
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 k0 m$ y- R2 \2 |' {# X8 p3 f: I$ X9 Ware spaces.
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, s, r3 ]0 W" l, `. q, B+ nThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi9 e! o, X1 K- |. x) A- F; B1 Y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 X5 n- |+ r5 R3 Y6 Qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* m/ w9 ^) C3 V/ Z d' e4 J4 n! t! M
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 ^) I1 X, _) Y6 P! z9 P: t
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 d; g7 m+ ?8 v/ X# D6 G+ v0 Q! H
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% x8 H U) e2 e+ G+ @" B+ Jnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# j3 A# K2 Y# o% v X0 |
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! w" L6 h7 c. m5 {2 ]is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 @5 [; b1 C+ T/ ~
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
