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
9 j- Z: M5 s, u, ]' ?( Pstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
; R) V, b5 z( F+ w+ p2 \on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ t G( H2 x6 Z
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 J* ?' J0 K, H% y
answers to our pointed questions.1 X3 T& Q- u3 j, Z& L- L
I! ?# X6 l$ U$ gThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& Z6 N1 Q* q2 i5 b. f' }
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
' N; N; s3 R# a$ C5 H: V; Mout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: j4 h$ v$ f( I5 q* r1 u3 {! Efree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ P7 I1 j" ]1 ]) B j$ ~
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 E- S% P+ Z8 H, @0 [medical schools.$ e% I5 K4 ^0 [# g( v
W( Q$ }- p+ p' I- XEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' d) u, T( S9 Q9 k. `
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- D6 W7 O$ X! }; H, Sto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
9 A* ~* l$ \& G5 E0 U1 Nassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
* O. e/ \: ]/ K! x! Cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
) h3 a* |, S! Y: Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& {* I' p: r g F0 Kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ S3 B" `* T- r" g- Wmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: ^ i1 \- ?% ?% F0 a& h" Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some( p! e& ^% w6 p, O3 M' E- A7 i
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: V6 [3 `" U; K3 x2 x) i
8 k6 H. p! n' N; j1 y6 t: qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" t7 ^2 V5 ]# t1 A
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and/ Z5 g( C2 w- c
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( \6 }0 y% Q! ^9 `1 Lhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 z+ X y* t* A% M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby* n; {7 B( X9 M+ J
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 V$ I b( X8 U" O adivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
z) q1 E0 _- W ^" r. P3 h% YDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: A7 F; k+ W0 S. ]9 g/ ea lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only; y; ]; V4 ^+ V. V2 W
charge the fee defined by the state. L3 B. d( ~! H+ w" Y H
* g4 o1 Y! i, F9 [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 t- c0 [0 N( x
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 }. u" u9 q2 C8 `- x4 K0 ?
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ b5 I5 E; r U, J a" `, s/ otruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 H0 {5 U( I, R1 N" Xseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% p5 b' J. @ _/ [working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 n9 V; R/ z& k: o6 I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% @8 T3 M3 t0 b6 lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- \/ Y" E& h: @$ i1 Z+ r; y' r
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch# E/ d. U+ u3 F
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" r" ]) t( @+ G6 I
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 T3 E8 {3 o. B( O4 D7 _3 \# a
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' o5 T- _& k- z X' J7 Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, M! K& m* I" W
are spaces.
0 }9 A$ O( N1 e$ i1 m7 s/ G
$ s0 r6 l7 s" e: x0 W/ B5 BThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; U1 ]# {; ~5 l2 E* W
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 i9 G5 t' S, m# a2 \" g2 ]3 e- _
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 W) T. s1 V/ G5 O+ I" @) l+ O
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& `2 A, l; ?* v- h H& Zparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the2 t; h0 p7 B; M( t* b* \) ^
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
& F$ _9 P6 Z0 P9 l' W0 S: L3 snice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# H$ b9 b' i9 h/ n/ ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" N" b- P, a- v! I5 P2 cis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ ^9 a6 Z9 q) P( _4 d
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
