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
# N2 W; R9 D; _- v2 \: {" Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 X0 V3 R! d9 W2 G7 N$ i
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: u& a/ P: ~" J8 u7 Y8 D1 H"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
2 l% X# }! l/ B% \, Nanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; y$ |0 _' l9 o- ]; J45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 K9 [: ]' |+ O7 [out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
2 d4 x& @" L$ z& `# l7 {' `free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. j1 O" n6 c3 ?) R9 G& u
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: ^! W' L0 C# s# wmedical schools.0 ^7 U& w3 o( [) e
* N: d# t" i: lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% ^/ z( V: S! e1 ]' _2 Egovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ Z# [% S2 z0 N" V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years& O. I2 i8 e5 D, m0 f1 ~9 a# ` P
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. Z$ A- F/ p7 ]4 t5 Qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- t- e" L5 L" f& J; _over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: Y. L! k4 N& i9 o7 Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ p1 t1 z4 L& X- dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
[ w' u+ ]9 |6 S5 A& ishortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) Z* b5 t+ p2 h4 ?$ V5 i* ~; nsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 |4 g! i: D9 `" j
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. F! ?7 F. Q5 v3 g, D' a" ^supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 p" @/ M) ~9 h% S4 J8 Hhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
I1 s% c! G& Gthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
; q- P2 u- x( n* tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ S J' f4 Y( Q1 E/ c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 a; L1 B6 V2 EDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: n$ G- q' v+ P; k! e5 Wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& ~* X( g' w/ Qcharge the fee defined by the state. X4 S. B, i6 G. p, n! C
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get! i+ t) l7 i- x5 t6 {4 P, u
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
5 ?: q! e- _' O7 Q8 Q# r9 Y+ _ }0 oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; U/ b. n& m4 R! R( htruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* }+ [! D4 a4 d# ]' t" S# b4 U/ v7 eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
4 R4 N* R8 e! gworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 U8 a w7 A! U j1 Zschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
5 x$ E6 s) Z% g% V( G# W/ `( O7 _you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people. A) i8 \4 _& C+ ]/ g* d
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ ^: }4 l& K; v' G' ?hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 E# W* w8 ?8 P( ?# T
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want8 {1 ?5 g7 [- T
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
1 y% x. _" \4 p9 Q" Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
4 T2 {: A% w2 Z; d1 Y: [3 Bare spaces.
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: X0 X- z2 t+ s; F$ m4 q" xThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
1 k$ |+ r; ?# g, t4 t X" U; D: jto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# d) r& d" p/ ^7 f5 Hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) k1 o+ T4 a- @8 [* z
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 j3 s( {) \2 k
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. j2 c5 [) [( b7 W9 _best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
) \4 j8 R2 F' i8 \nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
/ T, ?/ E/ ~- x: B6 t& @+ Vcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, m) Z! G; B8 p& `( a
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.: [, V" ?% M- t6 N4 d
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
