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
4 c3 [: z5 G; Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
% {3 E$ o1 A! g! o6 J. jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 l1 X( P, l, D( b, V
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
) [7 ?% U+ b1 lanswers to our pointed questions.7 }" W+ {6 Q* U
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" w; Q6 P7 E: u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. H0 T+ f* q% B! r3 dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 x# e/ s! d/ F& Z* Bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams: @ Z6 K8 u R9 ^8 T) p
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) ]; l2 C }3 Z: \medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) c0 f$ s& _ e; z% @
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) {$ [( T$ z' k; H9 _% G
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' z; \9 W- {) ^" Q) ^9 l; W& M- `assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& u! p1 l" R9 `1 his from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- F9 B& z! @8 T. |
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. `9 z4 B1 w# k( M% f1 N
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 n' G0 F9 H2 Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( s0 S# @+ r# z$ b, Gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 F7 ]8 v7 p$ F9 l" t% D, N# dsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# B& r X6 N2 Kprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 B! J2 [& S; d. L& S: U3 Esupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: N. e$ T# N8 D0 A* Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' ^6 C2 W* @ Q6 @& [! Athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# M e& j) V; O; S! ?: L, F
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 W4 `2 R+ r7 u+ e3 S
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ M& Q% D- `% f0 w+ J5 E2 b& o8 Q6 q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
. N) }# R" f' }- h; Pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 i; f: T4 A2 I8 O0 j( p8 O5 @charge the fee defined by the state.
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: E8 M1 g- a1 {4 H6 WThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
5 d% t$ g* ?% z- ]3 ?* Yon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
6 f) Q' z7 m5 ^1 V: l$ U' Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% V! e* A. I" Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
3 X, ~6 M# O1 Y8 s3 O |seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! g0 ~, S+ c4 s3 b" b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- [, `5 ~3 K& c0 g+ wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! q2 R% u# q1 f; ^. [1 b, }
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* D8 Q% \' r3 K, o2 w
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 I3 X1 b" L) I
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that+ h V& b' h. `+ j _. ^3 [ f) f5 f
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want& r O, ^- c5 z [+ p
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% L- O$ y& w) |% o4 X% n
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, F5 Y5 C; I4 N4 ?% X9 I4 w# M) ^
are spaces.
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* E5 k$ B, ]( fThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 |: x6 b# C8 j" ?, yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 Q7 `* N! [' v! X# rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 y3 H" t* N9 ?5 }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 q8 T. t5 U/ e, d4 n8 f% i; O [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
v; _/ H* w$ D' k; z: Z6 |best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! i, ~, T7 i) b& k8 `, [
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 Y8 O+ a, S3 Y6 l2 ?* h1 n& v
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
; {, H- ?9 X6 Z/ x) Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
- q! p. M3 c# G We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
