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. D- \6 `. u. S& z% ]/ d% d; y+ u# Q
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- ^# ]5 s& o4 v0 ?% f- Q- @on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 i @- w: N$ T( G- b
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: v4 p+ B6 P3 m* N1 r0 `answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 A7 w, Z$ `9 m1 K* t4 @- k45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! q7 {0 D# Q* f+ ]' j$ Y7 z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 K& ?! {0 Z5 n% D/ v6 u/ l2 gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
& V) _+ E$ v- P3 Dto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are; c3 x+ {7 T: r5 a
medical schools.
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q; p* G8 E% _: h. @! YEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
o7 C! e* K" F8 kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 B1 G9 x. T6 J9 U( sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# v* e# Y- [; n; E# x% ~assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* [5 L v6 x2 D; l0 E3 h( q
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to, ?) Y/ U' z8 i
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There; l( t5 }3 M6 |9 X3 b$ x
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: d2 w4 H2 E+ O4 u1 d5 E
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: W5 Y: L6 E% [+ F) j2 N: D$ pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ v0 `: J/ @0 y) B L) s9 ?+ B
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 u9 g, @( u/ O7 s1 L z% \
8 L( p a. P( X) }/ k7 RThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; r$ `6 p D! X1 D! I: ^
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and: o4 k/ s8 E% f$ _! W6 Z5 [
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" k* z k x& ?% S8 fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
2 ]+ }1 q q1 r4 r' e7 [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& q, D4 z+ s" `) @sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) p3 K; K4 F3 r8 @divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 [( r- h# G3 Q* t0 w) ~
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* @# b3 ~. x! P. e. y) Q la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 E8 B: _. Q4 r! P4 vcharge the fee defined by the state.: D! D. \$ C0 z
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; x* G+ g0 }' Q5 Y+ w( L- R5 Y) Y8 Q
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 K; C2 \0 k" `3 _ W1 z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 I' `) L# [1 M; k7 K
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( n4 y, [) H0 _/ X4 ]1 ]. B% h( bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 F D: y, K) {4 J' D# b3 T
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 B$ Y" o, T2 r& |6 Q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: H9 T# O- i0 q) I- W5 y+ q U, Cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 R* Z s1 s: r% N% ]( `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, O2 u) c; _/ U) A8 ]
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 v& g2 G% {; c
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& H2 \& J9 s( G; }# w9 f. lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' a8 }2 r& M( G: [# U2 ^& a5 w# E
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 G' h1 ^! @& x. j3 ~1 d0 A3 yare spaces.. E: T9 j+ s/ b v+ {# N. ~
; r1 s5 w7 f& g5 p' D8 O8 KThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& ~% @) ^. Z% R- p4 Sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! G, b9 q" w( t+ J9 uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 l4 e$ a* W" f" T
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 r3 p+ k. `9 T% ]7 C
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! |2 P0 r+ P6 Y( {% x* I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
. [4 R& k7 b1 {8 i q+ w! hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 y& R$ D' \& e% H8 y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, [+ z X+ D# z0 Y' O p# j3 f4 a' Fis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 N8 z; x" p% k. p( ]- }# M, l/ W' T
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
