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
8 E3 L# d4 q( \" m. x7 ?. Istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ |5 T; Z# W& pon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! G ]( R: f0 {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give3 T/ F$ d9 Q$ J3 M4 u( }
answers to our pointed questions.
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! [- S0 E3 b1 p9 @1 L H7 n. oThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) d8 [* f) y3 {7 y' X$ j4 d
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
( L- ?5 l' j$ m% ^9 h/ n' Iout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 a5 n/ e' }8 J! y4 J* M# c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 y, e5 [: E% ^& ^! pto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& x1 e3 e) \5 I1 J
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the V# `! f: v0 c5 p5 A# S- ^
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- K) Z2 |$ e" I# J7 c3 y. w* W1 W; m
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
4 a6 C$ r" v7 l* C$ X8 t- G Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 W+ @* Y: e, tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 u2 f/ F$ H7 |# B5 p' C" Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
. |3 p: o y( Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- A: d6 X9 Z7 E0 ~- @3 u% p5 x0 pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" n* w+ R6 _9 h1 pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 c6 u6 r& U' [" X
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ p# [" O3 Q) L; d, F. h2 L0 @
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ T& r( j6 Z6 n8 i7 a% D0 U# Sprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- q6 Z) b! `6 ?6 u4 S; s; Nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 o; S; f R) y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ r0 n! b8 k7 J$ u/ a5 athing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
z1 P' p: r: B$ W8 p Xsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) q4 i/ H, Q0 G
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
# T( @) ~* O" W2 FDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 ^7 R' n! b6 Z+ Pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 F7 @. E3 P3 A9 j' M, O& z
charge the fee defined by the state.0 s- E4 l: {1 [" H2 X# Z
: z# d# K+ c: d% N: XThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 G5 G; j- a* [& q- \
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 I: }. n$ ?0 E: B2 _" Cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 ?$ X: E8 D# [& d) P# c( I
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel' d9 y1 I+ i# J. `, c. T7 S
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ v- n9 T# g. r1 d; yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- ]4 H6 _( C% F( lschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ {9 k4 R3 {6 ?5 ^
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people8 p: R9 ?& D, w( `, P3 n# M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch p- {2 O" a+ d0 h+ s
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 [' T! L; ~5 V& {, Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" ~& J' s N# K1 j1 d3 Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, P9 U; O" d$ X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 z9 |! w5 H" a& b# Care spaces." Q: Z8 s& z) W/ ~( ~4 U
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ a0 H# F$ q; G. kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ X1 j$ h! w3 w( U0 K B
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: n6 y* Z0 P) Q: ?
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
' k& r; n9 ?( Fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 y5 C3 ]6 h J7 j) t5 a+ p
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few+ R) w3 W6 k* Q3 Q7 K$ F( W5 `
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 T7 V: l/ M$ scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" _5 |& Y) M- R0 {& Z7 S3 P
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 b+ R' F; [7 N2 N* P8 K7 b We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
