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
! T0 k+ [# c& O3 h5 w% G+ estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 Q) I9 [$ w" ~9 m+ S
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" @" S" _" [. Y# Y7 o, a"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give2 Y3 W6 e0 u$ F: m
answers to our pointed questions.- ^. l. ^+ q% S
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 |0 i6 f+ r6 \
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ d" c6 K8 b& F3 U& G* u u$ A' I
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 O7 s+ [$ H* t/ e
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
3 h* ?1 m5 r7 P Zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# Y3 W+ s- e( X, v
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' j% R( o8 {/ P) X$ `" P, f
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( q; E' A3 R/ D, H% K2 k- ?to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) W M6 s. j/ K- `assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ _5 M/ d1 \4 Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" c# ]) J8 Z$ `. e5 w& E( i- p
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There6 \% K {& J4 q5 _& z2 E+ q
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" u( ^' r3 U- D amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
H0 q- T7 E, S1 Pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 P, g- S: {1 y9 E
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no Q c( F. n& N- e$ M1 F5 E, f
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and1 b I. j5 ~: q( q' E7 Y5 i
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 o, |, P4 y+ y8 L7 thave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 V# I' P `; \& v) vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 n. p O1 c) P- d- k/ Ssitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high; B/ Q. E& z6 e2 S; w) g
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 G. G2 R6 H$ c3 f; RDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When! h6 [' Q. A' U" c# O0 h0 P
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 @; d( E8 k' x' k! _# Z9 m! O
charge the fee defined by the state.
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# {2 S$ a* e( O* bThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get/ r( E/ d$ w: Y- ~
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( ]2 U. j4 p! ^! Y9 `' ~1 w. Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 f9 l) w1 \" z C! I" {
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 [2 e& p( K( @& K1 @) g u4 `. @seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the& O2 [- X6 y% V; S% i0 _; Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
4 [) {% F6 E8 a3 G) A$ gschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 b. P$ J2 q- Y; H5 yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 j4 R& ~" w! I5 o' `3 @( k# N' z
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 j5 d$ o8 `* {1 ^6 ^9 E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
! W: t) Z* K( O ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 Y7 x+ D( g1 K* O# d
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 i5 C: V8 s. U- p2 D7 s; m a
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: Q$ A2 M1 M$ Z+ \ T; h
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, p# S0 V7 Q% y7 d
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 ^9 y* a7 }. v+ j! d6 ~; z6 S
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the T9 m- w7 w" D: ~ R
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different) L+ ?1 z( p& Y) H$ n& S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 c( @2 ^4 H' d: B
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 h! R& a0 m* @" Z4 S$ m" znice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
6 m; D" B. ?7 d( e* t0 @' fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
5 N+ {$ C* M* D1 S3 Ois a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.* |% m& x7 \& X# T# P. g. e) h
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
