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
: y( r, c+ j: E4 s( ~standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 }% x, q/ \9 y! ~/ x. R, |6 m4 B
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,- L9 V3 S3 i2 s- W- s" |
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! W$ z1 }- s/ U1 I/ i" D, O2 banswers to our pointed questions.! y d# k$ J; X. y
7 \' y' Y: L: E7 s8 WThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,' V# {, l2 e! ^+ }) K0 y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand/ [9 _% e6 q5 ^1 ^, ^
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is X; Y% I( k/ y$ ^; F
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 r# m3 ~" d1 \$ }- {to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are3 ~( u" U" Y$ q$ d
medical schools.
5 w3 ^, j( k& r* F. P
: c! Z! X, N r* BEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: R7 g, `5 V$ W( j6 g6 igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants {9 G) w5 {% O8 q( ?
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 L( w+ ^+ b0 o- V& r
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 F+ T6 q. k) ? R. e
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: N& C6 P! @* s! v% ^$ \ Xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; n6 P& E i/ E5 Z, f4 ]0 ]seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
) ~% N0 O6 F: @! n3 g% `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 l. g7 n2 N; N- t1 w1 |
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some0 J1 [5 T( K7 _$ g* ~4 S
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 k, a0 g. W2 `' `' M% l3 a( g4 ^
2 k$ ~1 T, [1 B8 G* c8 F% }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! R* M4 z: g/ q2 {
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- S. C, H6 ]' v! E. P+ F5 Q- Asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people* `9 x0 f1 ~! g2 m3 a& r! i8 X' S
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* `: W2 f, y2 R% A. D, K$ [thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 ?- }6 t7 X1 qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) o' s: N2 Q E! ?4 R& A7 sdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ |5 d$ S" h+ z8 I3 }/ oDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
' ]0 t, j' O' G7 L1 D- ~/ Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ @/ f4 ^% V( H: v3 m3 d) v/ C5 P
charge the fee defined by the state.$ p5 ^; ?, x4 i) n* M8 i, j
% S' U0 R) a8 b; O! r) p. |
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 a5 P3 ]! {2 U. V5 bon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
* B2 p- |& }4 W- i g5 Kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
4 \+ P+ u1 h- Utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# y$ |/ ?& s# k7 C3 d% z, T# m. l
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the3 t, {) C- n- y7 g; R( j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! r9 A4 J$ x7 qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if* J; C$ ?9 H% S, e Q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
- V+ E B: l( y8 ^4 J) ntrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
$ ?3 U! X( i% H4 Uhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
2 U: ^# D0 @0 G# c) d+ |% J) Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
) c" u* [0 t! ^% cto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ V+ f6 Z" y8 u: o, z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ }: B' k0 k* k Kare spaces./ E. x! `- c- s; X4 H) q' q4 C- r/ W
6 \! O2 W% }' L, eThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' b( l8 V3 h( h
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. Z4 {- b, v8 `- Q4 U' Y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
/ |+ I* t H/ d- r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, Z4 c1 t! z/ I5 Wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! i/ z2 x& Z* \2 E; i
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 \+ w p& ]) e {- _3 y) Vnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 f. J7 F( w C/ h5 t6 y, N: Xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' ^5 a+ B/ k+ V: Vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! k6 r. r# ]0 O1 L! b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
