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
1 G: a) Q" P. G4 Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went6 K- A |$ k' ]# z5 G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 }/ y# p0 e" z* B% _; q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 @; A' B! q) b& X: d( i
answers to our pointed questions.6 B; {* V1 w- Y5 O$ U
6 }0 D" W; C1 r" L( E4 L# LThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. M3 H2 X4 ~$ R* V6 H; M6 G3 c( r
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: d3 R2 Y0 i2 X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 \0 r; D0 a1 }+ I& ?) k Gfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
9 R* ~5 v& K3 pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 g/ Y) R( R5 ]; K; q
medical schools.
2 i' k( C# z0 l$ Z2 U
4 O5 _3 A) s8 }3 w0 e& x' h( I/ OEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 A9 Z; J# {1 \4 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ F) `+ q7 u9 u; p* Y8 Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ ` b4 p4 Y1 p& i: e) F+ r7 j4 Dassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ i4 p# {5 G$ }: n8 ~5 b* v+ l
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% i* \* ~* N& `0 [
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& ]# D7 d( p" |7 ]$ z+ |) ?! n3 w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& N: }$ N3 I; c. a& }) D2 ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 v$ q0 H( J- x: rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
* j4 y1 i/ ~& K/ i0 R0 xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# s1 ]9 g6 J- y, c1 w2 Z2 Y
# c% W% \$ V& }1 w( r2 cThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" {$ h5 r# x! p8 p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ W" T: ]4 l% {7 j! o0 a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 H" X5 t( l, Z z& B6 thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 G X3 l/ y6 r7 m$ W0 w* ?thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# H" a; C. t2 `5 n* K3 v6 w
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 A+ E. I6 G5 [: bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
# ^" d: t9 F! Q' x* `Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 [( @! c; g% H' k* Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 w w. J G& z8 vcharge the fee defined by the state.
2 a' Z7 p8 @; E7 s1 Z! ^
: Z, L) s" p0 Y: n+ fThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* [4 i3 p8 {. ?9 R- N
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! I3 b7 P# C Z" aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- g( a' j0 X/ a5 I2 r* ?
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
9 Z8 T \, `, C3 Y) f2 b' _ V+ xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! n$ p, ~& _, T3 l( g- B7 @* g3 ]: e
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- h5 C3 T' i3 f6 F* H3 M! _schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 W( F6 r0 I6 Syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people" K! R5 j' C1 E( R( r
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" t8 y. ?- T5 |+ P, q! O4 xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ u& W F% R4 l' H [" Rpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) a! q) ]3 V5 D9 N. X# v$ {to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or _, W4 d7 B5 `6 _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! A3 Y) n) b$ I" r* `
are spaces.' J5 E4 `7 H! s8 n; Z; u
' h6 F, ` P) p1 R& R, |
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 `& J/ V4 G0 H. B4 _! _to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 \$ S! `6 Q$ R# Z# x8 r, b* _own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% D. P2 g7 l9 t% s* z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 U) m# B4 ~6 _" a' [
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the( x; ~0 A* s8 G& i& r
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* Z; A, u3 C# e \/ W0 B; V: onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; z$ k8 `6 w, G! A# F
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" t+ D$ P0 ]3 J$ v" Wis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.9 z6 Y" T; K6 I, D2 e' t9 F
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
