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
# a) ]6 \0 d1 G) X3 N" ~8 p+ _$ pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 Z' p8 X+ W0 Y6 e# L
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 O) q# k4 k! n
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: o4 q e2 b6 M" n$ S
answers to our pointed questions.9 @- s$ q) A4 l/ P H3 |6 O
& i {" p9 \. k. c x t! EThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 ~: ^3 j0 h3 p' A5 T' C+ B: R2 }
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
- U5 C* t7 M; s. Tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
) b' n# L9 t, u& Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 l; a3 U6 L. j" b: Nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are# M# y# \- v- ^8 j
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ V. P" k+ c' n
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ A7 K) A0 M+ [# \2 z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 o8 U7 [; e7 \& F, \0 q; o5 r
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 i6 [; M k9 ?+ X. Y4 p, m
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% a h( W8 g3 N1 z0 h0 Z' q6 Mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ c- ?; v9 ?! U9 b$ v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 c! `* n, P! h, Cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 J1 W2 o' a. j) c3 v
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 `! k8 v8 Z- d' F% ~. Gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands. }* @% ~- [( ~" G' @2 f; j- B Q& O8 G
+ O; S+ I9 F0 q8 ^. ~% _% M: B7 t, W; OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ E, s* E: K4 p) l( @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 {. L1 V* [5 v; s g3 L
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* d5 [7 u: ]7 D9 ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ Q( ]- a2 P5 y& M7 Q2 o' m7 tthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 ^. m, ?% |/ |' o7 n# w
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; O! O, j4 X% R* @3 mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* t( c; r' B; Q- wDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When F! } x& [* K a$ A
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only2 U/ `% G# Z+ C7 C; A
charge the fee defined by the state.
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+ h- h+ d* i' U9 x8 xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, U. p8 g! _' I: S: a
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type" y* t2 S; \ n
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) z9 P6 ]' x3 e! `( f7 _9 _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel5 `+ `/ ~* F- j( {: @
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: R: F9 s- N; r/ B# u. P
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' B4 x0 F2 j V1 ^
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ v) z9 t3 Y4 Kyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 O M" j! w# ^2 L$ |0 E
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 ] O' I* H/ L# Ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that, t: }4 O/ t/ m% K; C% ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) `6 |+ b4 G! G! s/ q2 O
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or0 \- @% o0 n- { x* A3 ?+ I
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there8 @$ b/ `4 G( j- q
are spaces.7 n+ l, G! @5 v# ]2 Y
2 S, l2 c( t- L# j2 |4 TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi% C& Z. Q8 f+ l! z$ o! [" x
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 y n3 p, E) ]own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# ?' R9 `; @ P/ I- I$ \9 h0 t% `40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 D2 w( G; g4 V6 J% P1 Q3 f s6 {
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the, r! D: | Q' W+ {; N0 P
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 A r( E, I! }9 v6 c% a" \9 u/ inice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of6 s, H3 @- |9 |0 L j2 ]9 b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: V; L* M& A; ~; e R9 u
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! S9 F1 p2 y. L5 L# `! K* L, ^
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
