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
5 ^% _& I4 u! b6 ~/ Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
c8 `- Q) K' A6 \5 \' X, jon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' l7 s. `- R& o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! A2 S9 }+ E! b) q% i3 [) E
answers to our pointed questions.1 ~/ \2 C! Y b5 A7 R( J1 w
% g" o: m% Z8 @! Z$ jThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 m, j+ S8 E0 Z1 x; {6 j45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 L+ A( Q' L. L, ?1 ]% \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- v7 O4 X V+ T6 x" \8 V! E1 H
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; K1 _; ~/ Q# X$ N/ p: K7 o; W' @
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) f8 U8 {3 s1 ?# N) `+ x( ymedical schools.
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/ m5 J; @+ U) @8 K) |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' k: u# O0 i. a6 T8 t
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
" C9 l3 [# q( Q# w7 \( zto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 ?! q7 r8 \' z/ M. ^3 V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
0 \8 O7 I- R+ G* Mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. i$ L- N( s- L/ P {$ u9 U: q" ^
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 H, @/ @" r d0 c, _# Y
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
, f# P0 u: y7 \" q2 Umostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* l$ ~" [8 c: K+ B) L2 }$ Y- S) Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) O' k# A; P: |% Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 B. @. G6 W6 x4 l/ c; @The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 Z( K& v; P5 o( w* B) rprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
, K' r" }' l$ |0 b' `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: Z( F% h! s' J3 vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good9 f/ p' J6 D: T- i6 e- j) u8 Z
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# \( c: X% U/ @) o/ Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high: B7 N# \% z+ y" E# x0 ~5 D3 t
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ ^; V& Z. R/ A7 t
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# ^9 \; r) G) z9 t
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 ]3 k/ P6 H6 Q5 Mcharge the fee defined by the state.9 }9 S/ s+ {% Y2 v4 E
% W& X0 @$ r8 C* B5 p( u7 oThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
7 N$ M& t# \# W8 ^3 Non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# [- J% K5 Z# Q) U$ kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 |0 R) C/ x% v0 ^, j/ }0 ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, _1 Y# G, n4 Q1 A& N: T: `
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
& o6 Y& k5 O, J! |4 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 h# Y; t0 c% `) N* [9 k( Y2 k
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" p7 z; \# u2 H$ _' Fyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 K6 x0 C" G; b3 ]3 k5 U% S) `trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) [5 t9 d& L5 g4 P
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
7 c/ M |" G. p" d9 K% Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want- ?1 W0 u1 F) E3 `) x) z/ B- J/ q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 V0 O/ i+ S7 F) S7 D6 ]0 G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: K, Z- G: w; M# ?' g4 Uare spaces.
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, @7 w6 L3 [* u- j' D6 i' ?There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 e. S0 b9 F" p# N# {
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* a( m G i; T) Q( S
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
2 s, C0 J7 t4 D+ ]+ W40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
0 `: l* s9 o# }0 P( N J5 aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the& l: h1 ~( O# `3 n) e1 x8 F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 B; ~! G+ c" c/ ]2 ?0 u7 w cnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ ^/ K6 U0 V; w" H+ s4 Wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it3 z) v8 R# X0 F! X+ }9 R
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 Z! Z" X" M' m" \
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
