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 [" c5 e ^/ g# |* g: y* j8 b8 \
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
+ n( F, L: |7 R: r% r) f: X Von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 e3 S9 `4 j- _+ W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 l8 m2 B6 w* T# c# d( h- Danswers to our pointed questions.0 O1 k1 K% _, b* w5 p
/ K9 t9 _2 b0 v0 c4 RThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, p* M+ r9 E- d* \( q, s* H
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 V1 `* l' p4 F5 ^8 K6 U. y
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ }0 n- _( @2 x7 S
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* j/ U& p6 A4 ~+ E% P& T8 M |
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, n+ V, {) c8 l3 l, Kmedical schools.
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- @3 |3 K5 L* Y, _2 KEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' \6 I9 J; o/ @0 J
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ o5 x8 U% \% Q" ^, g; O$ s0 sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( m1 e/ F! ~; P2 S$ z1 t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba+ q V) a5 g% O" ^0 L& |
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ a [: S, } E: K" eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 E. `( E+ J; n, P3 O: x; N+ `seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
. G3 g5 ~6 k1 M$ b3 X1 v8 {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk# T' y0 K! d& r- _& n; N9 B
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 ? T! N/ Z% E/ Y# m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( s. A1 M( B& J9 ^
3 ]8 H. `+ x: c5 ~0 H( I" \$ vThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( h. R g3 }, |" l- cprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and- K. Z' `$ H' V" C* f
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 k, w s8 o0 A( S, U8 s6 p' l$ v9 Thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. X3 T$ |9 [3 d' m/ Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby: {+ X7 b5 [! T8 [. q8 M
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
* K+ X: D* Q; B1 q# b4 Mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, M5 M7 `3 _" E& Q& T$ s& SDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: c) z n2 U1 y' P# ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ i' b$ \% T$ Y
charge the fee defined by the state.
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3 T* G% T$ W( X: Q/ `3 @2 s6 }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 k3 @& f, Q8 T1 Q0 |2 N
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: f- z' d3 j0 `, v, b3 V+ {) j c
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 E" F2 @3 `8 ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ v& T0 _% Y( } }/ Jseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
; |, f, m1 I$ Sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; O, u* q# R8 X" |$ [' ~; N, ?4 Sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 m2 A |% K! ?& V: g4 Iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people ~; i) M6 Y. z+ {$ W3 k
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch: g5 o. l! x+ X! Z/ _4 X, R- w
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 `5 j o/ T' Y, W1 L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 X v6 c& ~) c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 }, {% C5 V/ @. ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there7 N% j3 v) L1 ~% X: E* b
are spaces.) D: X* e2 N# F- e/ G: W; ~
' S7 m+ i% x( Z% F2 rThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 @. h) K& I5 v7 G1 P: A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) I. E! P: G$ e Z6 L
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( X* O" P5 o! ?. ^/ z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% \+ N' ?; Q0 e
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
9 [# g1 ]. v, x2 O: }. ~1 Nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 ?$ y( E( B, r8 v0 R1 bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
. e: u8 n! W5 }2 F& c6 T0 c6 ?0 I ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" n w, B# [+ q) s5 g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 p% B* H8 _- Q+ t We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
