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
# Q2 }4 T1 C1 t6 Z5 I5 ?standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 s$ ^* `! n; b! V* @9 t
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,1 }1 v$ ?6 A0 F# g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give d5 [' I' Q/ H3 o2 M. G% F
answers to our pointed questions.
3 q: j/ l, M) v* Q; h+ q: r* b0 ^$ T/ c% f N* x
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 D' j4 }0 r/ x4 r2 Q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 @9 N; Z; I: h8 O" z! Uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% m" e% f q# i1 c/ u
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 }6 k7 T3 g' s8 A( n" f: Z4 F
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ ~; s5 i/ }5 [% V
medical schools.
) J7 d2 H0 m7 [4 [( h5 ^
( W$ [9 U5 {. c, j: y1 o& u `& t! YEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% z. Q/ Z4 ]: x+ Q* egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 a% {4 h& O9 A0 \: g1 P0 a6 Kto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
' z& l; O0 a4 T( \! s" \assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- k1 H4 x& {# d ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 U: }* ]& o* J1 r- W2 @2 hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
" d: ~8 N) t7 lseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and& q; D) D f& j
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' X5 t% R" o. \- z$ z0 D: {shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, ^# H, M; c# O5 Z2 `- n6 r$ Xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
. k# K& S+ P! F% C2 q" j, U# J/ s4 \8 `8 C% [4 a) W: ?) x8 ?+ ~9 c" _
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& |# P( z- H9 C* l7 ~% y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! x1 f4 D, u4 C! g, k) R# W isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 @0 ~( ]: K5 W% J, V7 b Zhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good3 X: R% ]- q$ _
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! I( x, o) ^: Usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. `( `6 q" b7 U' m+ x8 r
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( p% |1 P+ V, H: D# K* E
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
3 U. I" z% m+ l+ Z/ J, M4 [a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 I3 e& p2 u1 k- kcharge the fee defined by the state.
; ~7 O) |/ H# \* X3 P
1 f3 Z" {. R( Q# ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& D9 R% {* k6 q! s( `" j
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
4 f. N0 a- U, T% A b2 wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 b7 S. S' O4 I' }, J, w, w8 b
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* \ x. n. x. }* |) j1 ^seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* N7 g n7 K: \5 k2 @7 Zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
v0 E) c' c' ^$ N! J( U6 J9 x- Sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, j& F9 z' ^0 Y* m) d7 U8 x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 ]3 L- b' P5 K$ b! S: Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# V% } `0 A7 K5 N# Z. `
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
/ n" Y+ @1 V% Q2 @& qpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
2 D, {5 b2 ]/ |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 h* R. M' W/ X8 Vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there- Z' r) {" H" A9 U6 n; P) D7 q
are spaces.
# ^: q( p$ r% l1 T N. y( r* r% Y# f/ c/ V- S
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! R9 A$ a0 l! K* r$ A
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 O; }' x' B' R; @+ z2 @own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 M9 D9 y( G: _' J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 ]4 H- H/ E n0 Y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 |: ]0 E9 c' P( I4 {3 F+ vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ {$ }7 d1 @/ H1 F) v# pnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% k& b9 X; O; N0 q) ~) }: Ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" j' S7 H) K+ m# X6 R( E' x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
; T& I* [: a8 w4 ]2 F9 M2 f1 L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
