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
* [3 u. r% k" E+ p. [* s* gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went7 \ C" A* J# f' w
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& k8 B. l1 ]" u. B; r"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ E# j; z L5 d/ P8 G& u) u- nanswers to our pointed questions.
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( p/ T; Z: U9 ?. ]% vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% n' P" ^- Z/ ^! R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: B+ M& |, V5 [, j+ G& O" \% [0 u
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
5 S! n' n) X. Vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& ~ I8 ]. w9 r/ m/ t! u
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
' j$ u, y' Z* p% h2 \/ t7 Emedical schools.
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2 ~* [" [* R! E( a _, SEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: @) x1 r" R# i7 E% d4 e# d: @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 U7 V# u- ?4 }( x; A0 l5 u
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* y( E0 j) O, T2 K0 Y" w
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 a/ K# z3 P! g* I
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to+ S* J, G5 ^; X' p( f
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 y4 _0 \: g7 K i
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; `' v. ^% e" v4 Bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- \0 [1 h5 i+ g/ E* ^) T
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 Z; o/ T7 q8 f, P& g# ] ]4 ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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" P& N) t4 d3 D1 v- R5 _4 }3 M- sThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 o' C/ v; }2 T1 g" s. h. Q% H3 t
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
% b$ K, T: O9 D1 Usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; `" C* X( C9 `9 A( x: S% V( z
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" Z0 I t3 a4 I* L2 I" v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 `& x9 t8 i2 O
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 e) G; t3 p. n+ _, y8 _; x3 G
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 B& n9 @: m; m: V! ?
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 N# `. b) e& H. S g8 Za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 }$ D$ V: l$ echarge the fee defined by the state.4 H6 v1 R: `, `8 A! f
/ U8 t& y% ]9 x/ I% d3 F7 ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) ]3 z0 b( ^( \( t
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. s' a5 I$ |( f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: v8 F4 a/ @# l0 r# x$ }truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! K$ s H* [+ b2 q& c# q R
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ f$ \/ I% B0 e* D3 `; B1 A6 D
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on. ^% }, W7 c1 R
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" s, Z0 W+ j& c/ n6 x
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
. U$ R1 g, N$ {3 V1 Btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& |2 J$ v9 l- _ ?, lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 f. S2 \# ]# X4 u; ]& speople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( T+ C2 F! z( |: A3 `0 o6 h0 Q5 Vto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
: t6 \4 _7 m6 xbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; q ?% O; M( x. y% h! uare spaces.* [, ]. b0 F8 ~
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ M; j2 ~* Q" s; U n% z7 S: gto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! i7 a7 U" a" L* p, y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ U$ I! g6 f9 {' T7 l: A! I: B40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% F2 ]0 k8 U+ A2 O$ \parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 a9 A4 n% `: t2 X/ Y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! Z9 l/ C# ~! N6 H" _& `2 u3 W! }; S
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
& p( q6 Q! |4 R) ^& E0 icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it( F- K' b% |6 J! g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 f! n; k( q1 ^) t( N7 ]1 [* p
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
