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
! Z; b% E7 u. B0 n$ {standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 E B o. w0 ?% n
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 q) b) c0 z) B- z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* L% G8 p$ x7 ^" k0 |& l/ manswers to our pointed questions. T) B9 f! z3 I$ ~$ B/ S( Z
" C7 K3 c& t3 L g% b
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 E8 J j+ T4 q9 G+ J
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 b; E& } v6 J, m5 W+ e, Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ }$ h* H8 ^! M/ L
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams) j' H0 Y; `: A) f( ]1 U
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 T$ C1 n% g2 R3 j+ _3 R0 v/ }medical schools." ?& I; a0 P4 A
% T: Y( s' s. z+ J/ p. \4 G" ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' |- e; X: ~" W/ a; U4 `government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ r- F+ N3 _8 ]9 V6 y3 \
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 g7 v9 j8 b' U% N5 l6 \4 Passigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba1 u' N) m0 m! G" {( _# f7 S
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
5 G. \8 q2 [ y/ i8 w8 aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 i3 u& k0 u. {, `8 W4 \- S/ \seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; B( j) U& X6 T. U: b) {; Xmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
6 m7 Q1 e# e# vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) Q* a5 ^3 U: S6 Z5 }; w( h0 Usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
9 |+ @& r0 b; V' k+ t
4 A: J% }1 Q, HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
' n8 i& _$ B. |* \private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- E+ U; T7 S3 Y9 j' P/ r) |supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 g3 d* p3 z0 o. N# C8 @/ [have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
5 S$ c" ]0 F7 i) L6 tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ s) u p: w. t/ d% T& l- A
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ {8 [, ^( ^" S& O! `
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 K: J5 e/ {! c
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
; e% A5 F1 u4 J: ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 [0 a( G6 V) X/ a8 i( }2 _6 Ccharge the fee defined by the state.
/ a6 o- {/ ~8 l9 g; ], P
, d; {: C- v1 W' J$ e: G- NThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ c2 J6 h$ ~: e- B9 W' C* Gon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, H+ j K: \) i
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
" A9 L' u+ E" |% H9 Q; etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
`' g4 {6 w9 K) `9 hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
d" f8 z b. ?/ Qworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) }/ E: V# u. s, y5 t4 [
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 |' k F# Z+ p6 p0 F0 X( `8 j
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 P! H- c: G/ r M. I+ A1 g; ?3 `6 }
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) _+ Y7 F; e4 Y5 ~1 z, o, ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 o; {4 X$ [( ^: S; P& ^3 r/ }people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want2 M0 s7 k4 W* j1 r" R4 T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 j6 z, X' V' v* a( O3 I# t! cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
- p- K2 D! N1 I) d& v* Dare spaces.0 ?' H/ P4 b3 d" h
7 u9 V- f; P6 w" [8 W# ^There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 H( c4 R+ M' j+ \! q1 O/ F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ z9 ]: l* K8 S3 ^) ?) ^9 v8 K7 o
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: \3 f8 B) @5 P/ m40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 e& M2 E0 Y1 D2 D% R2 _( lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 l3 U. O' Y: v7 }* J: `" S* Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" M: A0 q- |/ t1 T0 m7 B0 Y/ N c; vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 n, ]+ ]* c* Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ B1 x7 q1 T/ N3 H/ f( y4 uis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
% s) F: i6 D. F* A We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
