我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 b) m0 [. `3 D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 c' |3 A6 D- j' {" y
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," A! F4 Y) }: K9 o* }
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% D+ m$ N& W5 ?& W: f0 F: G
answers to our pointed questions.3 p+ `5 e$ i0 H
5 t5 ^- G' t2 d6 ^/ ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( l; s: X3 l1 w
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( W( _1 l5 V# j" P( p e: R4 Z) z) q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ R- @: X1 m, X% J# l6 T0 l9 v
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams4 K; q l. X, v# m c$ D$ L' {
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, G+ [' v2 N" D$ d3 U2 xmedical schools.
; X5 C. D2 }; K8 C8 l ^" T' N, b+ K( j
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! n+ D; a1 N' D, kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 L- |' p; ^8 f/ l# B
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# B* t% Q! C6 ?8 y* h$ f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& I7 u% c o" f; y1 G* t- Cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* Y8 s4 s' m: _6 ~: ?
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 ]: h7 O" d2 q! B9 s V, s& B" Eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and9 O* v7 D: ~6 Z7 O1 m( m
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: K. D( ~) _9 o3 Y0 g& ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 e3 Z. R0 k8 |8 X# B3 Q- ^sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
2 t* K! d% l) ?: D1 z7 Q5 [% h4 c+ F9 N
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ b. b& f5 Z( y* X! `+ L( D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ Z- `( W3 s" o2 i5 d6 {3 gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) p' f& ^6 ~& O9 U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% ?: @! ^9 j% Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ L1 \4 o! |6 W
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 R. ?0 | o, `/ x9 w
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.) F G$ o0 i6 x& n) o Q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# m5 B& t) |7 h8 r2 a Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 b: e$ I; Z4 d6 p: f
charge the fee defined by the state.. o Z8 j) x7 O6 O* P" J6 y% Q
( }: w, [: p+ h) ?/ _& UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: P* D# ?, B- z! }; B3 Mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& M" T: o5 J) p6 ]" b, x5 B
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 }1 {# ]7 r7 {6 x2 _9 V. y! m
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
+ o5 o# B9 @5 _; N7 p9 k- i* Rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
/ Y6 p* m+ R" f. uworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 {8 z$ \2 D* ~: g) B. Oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& t0 D- P( \$ [& P8 syou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people$ h X0 b, _( M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ ]( U* `8 G# _1 _1 O, Z% j3 L
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
5 ]3 z8 ^, D) \& c* \people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 I+ k0 I; q8 D( @
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or! N( @! r+ T4 t% A* `
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there& Y- F# |- m% @6 T! B7 c. w/ J/ x n
are spaces.. V* \ c+ J3 G* Y. v- N$ k7 W. z
- ^# { H4 d) \( h6 w5 E
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi6 R3 c9 l0 |( @6 y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
6 e. E) U" @8 F/ A* t; qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 {( {' j" t) R1 _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
6 v( @: |7 u( D# ^. w6 N1 f, t# cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 p! u6 _) w: @2 ^8 o: ^
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% [4 y4 b7 r, c8 @# P6 M2 C. ]0 inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
- i% _. x8 L3 @9 p+ o' Vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it f% K) w* t# h4 _/ j A
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 V: n" f9 y, z* Z: F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
