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# T' Y& {) P7 r* o! P0 x- [' z
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 G' `7 l, X$ q+ `- _* con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! j+ g' a! L9 o# N( Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ l6 Q' D% c3 ^5 E2 H7 n
answers to our pointed questions.9 N" B$ p5 Q Y% W" c
8 b# j/ |% c: ZThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 j; ~# ]0 H2 Y1 K7 p/ S- o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 F8 _/ L$ ?* R5 U7 G5 iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is3 u% x: E O1 b" W: M3 g/ k s
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 I( ?" R9 d+ j- z+ g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
! w+ u! W3 V; M9 T* c! smedical schools.+ u+ t& x6 ^1 G I* t; b! x
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* N0 [9 l6 v1 V
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
& I) }/ P: w5 f* R6 a( [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years0 s: I7 a8 d' _7 G- L8 x: w0 c
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 b4 Q* q; B, n+ `4 |9 ]
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 h; [* s3 Z; \% \& M2 Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 S- g4 c' s1 Q4 i- l# J- j; r5 W
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 F# V8 j1 Q; i# _2 ~1 |* z# e, t
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& u9 O: F- O& u& w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. Z5 L6 `& E8 R- c; Z3 B f7 ssugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., a0 B; }4 }4 d: ?. `# U0 U
' a0 P* W1 Z: F2 X$ FThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 x: ?$ m/ k1 H- n8 kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 R7 L; H# k# Y3 `; W/ D
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
e5 a3 [, p* ~; h* h9 Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 J& X( h4 P; j% O
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ P+ S7 j+ E! v& h0 ^( T
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high# h5 C: z) |/ [# P0 R5 V- M) x
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" |! Y7 r ~' c- Q' g* \. M: oDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* O+ \0 H' K- w& S0 E. I0 ^# C; L
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; L# G" I3 ?+ f4 I) W% ~- G# Zcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- u9 F- l$ d3 Q8 i, W: [: Con), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 N2 }. y+ ]2 b
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
! k; v! i7 v9 ^truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 { v, T- \7 C4 M+ p: H6 b
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& q7 ?' l8 C/ C. ]& t& X+ E! W" t
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* u# ~ Q7 H' l# Jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 ^/ h& |- H3 _$ \/ g6 o% v! Wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* A% p) R1 t3 I1 h* m, ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
. R: E4 L$ z* h$ Z0 b$ x8 dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 x- c9 I% Y$ P3 F: g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 p' _: s* H9 b f
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 V* x( y4 q3 Y. O; obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there1 N M6 E( y5 `4 w4 s+ k8 s
are spaces." V( W: t' p& X; R
& ?7 Z. r4 N3 c' z$ cThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" W8 ]0 Y7 }* b: d8 n
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) | r2 T" n$ C: rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: z2 ^0 r0 V4 Q% Q5 G( z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; Q9 M, b$ ^" B6 p% Z! N8 F n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& E) J+ s" u- \3 |8 obest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! ?: g/ I0 |, n4 d; j) g8 X. b! enice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, q! E+ a, G5 ^% b: E) d6 g4 F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( \/ |7 a$ v: Nis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: H1 C+ [( g# ~0 s- b
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
