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
4 I7 g1 o$ R K) ?4 x2 v h# K. Gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ f- a. ~6 W* `$ k- b* m8 H
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
' X2 p/ C5 O. \' _( J/ @"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give# a6 s* q) S8 i
answers to our pointed questions.) y/ x) I9 j9 d, G( `
8 J/ z, ]9 A9 i# Q: P7 T# GThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. d" L+ g) N# |! V, V7 q
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
5 q; O* i" T0 d) Xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ _ F1 d$ v: g% c, `- ]
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. K, b; K( M) O8 ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( b2 R3 I4 X/ L/ G# Y' E0 Emedical schools.
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" g' A( N# u& |7 c- Z( TEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 r% m" ?) p. L$ ]- V# S: ^# w
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants2 |" j! \7 _5 q5 z2 s2 H, | m4 q6 ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 f( o: X4 D; |6 R# x6 f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. u' F7 t( ?1 _2 ~: C0 nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* }: ]# m, K. X" O* Z& U
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 C# k* m5 r7 B7 m1 s% K5 ^
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) a8 z- E+ W5 O2 ^
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( C# v* U0 R- ?. Hshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
8 H& t5 a7 h$ U' g. J+ Ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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1 Y' | f: r) L( ^# q! {. wThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) t, I# J7 o- {private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 p! x" k: ^" y1 y( c$ a
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
6 \ Z) i# i# K: r) }+ h% Rhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 v( e1 I" @4 w2 c- r/ b
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 T" F2 \, @0 q% H. o& ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high9 b* r$ B0 u/ ]2 f( v
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. V" {8 a/ t I, MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ d" b$ u5 _) {7 E; Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 E( a+ L; [0 U3 O6 P" ^charge the fee defined by the state.8 `$ o' Q, O- z& T% M
" b& `# e$ y: A) |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get+ y: [9 P6 j4 M% ^% Z4 O, b
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& x6 i0 Y5 d+ |) S) r% n% `3 `$ _3 [
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 g( D, J+ |+ U' ~; t* ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel u8 t, @" f( j9 S& A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ O+ C( D7 Q4 U9 Q! A* I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" D3 y5 A$ l: N I- o, ~schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" x2 x1 X+ Y$ k8 g n2 U
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 S7 k9 e+ ?" r. l7 ]& O+ itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- Q) A. T* ] m/ g+ n5 h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 _% h, T; v/ O! n$ c: m& \
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% o% _( C0 f& C1 C$ C4 C# O% qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or) W. W! C# i- |% t1 x
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! o" T3 f9 Z9 f6 [3 y
are spaces.. j( c' N/ b! W0 c
6 u/ Y" V5 | }4 o5 o$ f. b4 q qThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' t; B; @9 Y, X( l0 v# v
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
1 x. o3 p( M) B4 [2 ?7 \own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) H4 L3 I, U3 F) O8 u! Z, e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 C5 g! A. b' y! C' K
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 c t t Z: f; p# E+ t( Fbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" f8 J6 ~) C& _4 ?- @7 Rnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 H" T7 C l: Y* Z9 ?; F% V( \car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it6 n9 Q: e$ Z% Y f. T' F
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.0 b7 d6 U1 u+ R* M1 R3 |2 w! s
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
