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. e; w+ I9 E/ y7 ?7 Xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
! ~0 y1 ?4 O: H4 non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, \* Q# C) B% U! b3 @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 J) H$ F. |- w0 r' ~ C: t
answers to our pointed questions.# j) Z0 ^/ Q1 E, h. g* e! C+ i
/ l* a! X, W6 w9 D. y! q7 H2 }% rThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 ?8 Z( W( h( ^6 c% l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( |( ~ W* J# `) c) G) Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 {7 y- B! h: J5 s. B+ ~. \
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
! S/ ^7 x7 p+ U2 y4 l3 J: k) sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# h3 s8 l9 [# |4 N4 j0 k; M: I8 ]3 w3 Cmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 U m% v, O7 }: R c7 g2 o
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants2 l" T: Y. F4 U7 ^* X. ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years$ _5 ?3 g- {. `( \) H5 w( l8 U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 k4 e* C) p" G9 a' a% u1 kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
w3 G- a. D8 p. d4 nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ `/ i; H2 L2 @3 W) D2 K: h! ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and4 S( f1 K# U% n( P4 f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: [% a& q t1 t7 J# }* z+ Mshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
( n' A4 ~. D+ }2 i3 {2 F4 ^9 psugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 Z9 r! ~4 E0 t- n" a: J5 N% F
) a5 v$ k6 z2 C, F! M" aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) N: L; ~# n* x9 _1 b
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 ^, {/ f' ]2 Psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people- }4 A' Z5 i: C/ M# X+ W
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( S( {8 ]0 L! o: X! @
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby/ _0 |7 Z2 X- b5 M
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high% L( @1 i3 \/ s$ t" c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 l4 }( ?( z. B/ }5 q: wDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
8 W5 U) K) N# S4 v+ r; Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: Y, q1 ]! |% R! s7 ?0 jcharge the fee defined by the state.0 j) l5 _1 _5 S( F, E
( o B3 z/ t+ J$ RThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get# ?5 h& a0 Y, g; M& q* m
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 m5 x( a' L- X+ o1 {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( X( k# D. A4 |4 B
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
! T+ ?$ C6 |" R1 s# `. p( H0 pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the7 u7 [2 A$ z8 H' w: k* V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 B$ [$ L. D5 |: u4 [& s; x+ ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 j3 o( `6 [& z/ [! wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
5 {3 f) k U! ]2 Jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch$ Y% }( i7 J$ P! f9 N7 l
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. E( {: e! \5 B3 W) V
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 P( F) N& `1 p' K+ U+ W' T( A
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% S2 }3 i. b, S4 x8 w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 o( L w2 s [* m7 ?2 z( eare spaces.* B2 H1 s% x7 c+ T
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# `: P5 r; \2 `! S2 e0 O0 T& Z2 {% mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they, F: R) ?( e0 D& I1 R w
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) }% M6 h8 f6 a
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different& j/ E" r6 n6 C, a. c. ^& A% i+ {* q! n
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( P$ A" E3 q2 ` l5 zbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' ]; r& k" b0 y6 R% d, p
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, F! s; m* m2 h7 y; L: bcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 a5 O: W* u( u* b( j' l/ Q+ _
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) {9 ?+ v" i, n: j. j- ^; ^' Y We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
