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 X: ~8 h0 Q% Y: q; U
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went+ B- i& W, m0 z5 F4 O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- P% ^$ x9 P1 i, j$ N X"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give6 p5 M* s5 A% a
answers to our pointed questions.
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1 e- c( T$ r% p" j* wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,+ k/ u' C1 `" e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ @3 }* E3 |$ I+ @ q: ~# K; w9 T! Nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
8 d! y( e( k. ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* M" j+ k$ \# _
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( c1 s! \5 X2 V
medical schools.5 S( V8 C1 S' e; ]2 J/ f1 J. ?
+ w' Y; G' B! L% A# b; I- [" GEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 P$ B+ Q9 q- `1 Lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ G& O1 p1 G1 M! S4 y/ G+ w* `
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 T7 I1 Z( P" X
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba! s: N9 z3 f6 k- W
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: \7 V' t+ b4 E1 vover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" ~- l+ R5 F/ x" w# v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- Q3 {" z; {3 u" r3 x3 Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) U: W& \8 ?1 M( L3 T \
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some& D+ ?5 L, @' C
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& ]" V+ f9 Z; _+ k' t
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# V8 `/ h6 |6 L5 l
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
h, H; M+ c" [7 Z# A9 W: usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' x& |8 X: Q* V' {" b
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ C- R9 J; }5 k7 s$ g/ q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( E/ K) ]. V2 o9 i: j: Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ \) z% |* Y3 i* A1 q. X' c; mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* I) {6 K" x1 n9 E5 w% i0 rDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 B4 o( E) j5 J* P9 Ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: g0 f. v" q$ I, Kcharge the fee defined by the state.
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$ d! |8 R! a4 k* K# h- F; ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get& @* I% U P" u8 `; B, {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
7 t1 ^9 S& t/ F& G/ [( c& V1 ~) bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ _ t2 [- l- ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 n3 a# h. ^+ |% |; s
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ g1 q2 P) L' A/ f% v+ o' Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
/ @; {5 q7 w5 o5 {7 x4 ~( x; zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 P* e( v0 P/ @! t" cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people- c! J( P/ v0 t* ]% a$ d
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 y/ D; U' ?# S: v; V' h
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
A7 C& h' t& H; O% i7 vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 x W9 a; B/ M- a4 j, ^
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 U) a* l$ D* v) ~buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 }. e) m0 d. Z9 @& o% |
are spaces." I- {7 c- |/ V# u1 y* j4 W4 x
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi. _/ D% A! t7 w4 u; P* e$ ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) k( x( l4 T8 }* u5 x" _$ z/ |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" b7 Y4 Y6 l0 g
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' i- m B3 J% d* O6 @; K5 S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 w6 Q5 {& d# c5 ^best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 l2 E1 a, z4 D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# Y9 @1 r' r( E5 @7 B6 D% Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 S/ K2 {: n- n' S" M3 L1 ?) his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. f7 S6 S0 ]- x/ v1 W3 T) M
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
