我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 x( a0 e3 {6 I) b4 I5 _0 k
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 V3 V* B4 i( s8 q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,3 L9 a* g0 y, g- t1 H3 m
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. G3 |6 t& B, f* z d
answers to our pointed questions. s3 b. P+ t0 E; G; z
, j8 ~ `- d' _' g5 w: O$ mThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 }$ D! z% q! V. ^1 L- M+ o: u& q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand5 k; d R* Q/ a7 m0 f
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ [+ `: S) A; j" V" L. Cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, G5 O( I8 O' e: @; `to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
! X) X$ X4 w) Omedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the# l) c/ A/ f$ ^5 g5 r
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- c; N" m; D! Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# _) T5 z5 H: `' |6 { k+ T) [2 U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! {( q0 U4 }6 h. k
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 V/ }9 A2 e- l: |5 [3 _$ \over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 Q# Y/ a2 H6 @ c' n. z$ n
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 g# h& W: {, c0 Hmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
. O7 U- w* \8 J; oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ c3 `" U, t9 H% \0 Y! hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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, q: d. t8 L3 y2 [+ Y& h! p3 {, [The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 u/ Y5 v, |2 b3 D! l8 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 Q3 u4 h- J2 R. _supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 {3 k! e) _3 ]( J4 mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, T$ l8 Z) _; Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ ?! K& |& E& @/ f9 ~) }sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
' Z0 V3 f. J' j8 X2 udivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
4 f2 `. Z$ e& }+ ZDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! u! B1 r; a3 e2 a; a2 }1 p
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) G. G. V5 p/ A8 Icharge the fee defined by the state.) k; ?- B- F6 t
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% l3 l* B* R7 h3 @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type N4 p1 `6 [9 A8 L K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- S. t+ t( b: R& @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 Q' p( f! m: }- `& Z, q+ W
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& q0 [6 s2 ]% u) w+ t% t- Jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, M. M3 V: \9 _ d
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
^3 w7 \" _- k; c" B; n G$ ^6 iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ C2 ~* U! o; t7 ?
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' [1 ~' _# o( y" Q+ Lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" R1 a4 @0 f# f. c7 g( S
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: C: z8 H: q7 d' R) V
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' X" B. z6 I! xbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there T3 B; B p' k9 ~+ p% ?
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* q0 @! j/ W% R9 k6 h. _to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
3 M- i0 e3 c% l# K/ t( P# Down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 J, |$ j8 s! ^# v
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different# h( U4 u& C2 W& U. M
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 R: |& K9 P2 v8 ~& i
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! I1 _6 x( c' m L. K4 z' _8 o) a: Znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 Z, U( j& q! X& ?* R
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& G4 o! B* I7 Y) Y/ a" D
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
0 t1 ]* T* V$ Y6 l6 l3 t, P$ Z We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.