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
' `: K3 f% v, k" x1 T/ T; g' q( `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' t, q# ?* p: O) J3 l, `; gon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,, r) u K" l, x2 n9 L: o
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% _- r+ p1 t5 \1 h4 S
answers to our pointed questions.3 e' w5 p/ f4 z5 V r( z
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
8 ~2 j+ e8 l3 |) P$ b' |$ U4 v45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ z; o$ ?, r) f4 qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
% }& R" ?# T, |( ~8 `0 U, ?# ]4 }free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 i* Z U$ l/ A1 y6 |& b( H$ q
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are2 U1 M2 ?! u$ [
medical schools.
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* | Q* d$ m( Y; }" Y# Y N# u# h! @Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
) [" Z1 G) o* H+ A$ T/ Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, ?0 h1 M: t1 {+ I2 ^* D" G
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years, p" c) R: H8 T- ^, A* G! d
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: r9 A3 V6 [/ P8 C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- g% ^$ {9 B7 e# p9 m+ ^4 ?" _over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' m5 W' s( {( `0 t. pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, Y4 m! `% l. C& Q }% H7 k
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& x" I: z' g0 p6 X2 D2 ?
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: q5 M- k* @8 A# F4 C# f" zsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 v, X& \& h# R* s4 E8 x- W$ G
. k% l( d$ Q' e5 l4 F& K( z8 SThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
; w5 x, ?% m+ N& W1 q: g6 ?private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 a+ L$ ]9 d6 C; z
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; v. W! g5 M. k; z( \7 L( V, C" o8 @
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ i: o+ P4 ^3 h1 v) othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
* X7 M+ A$ W/ _7 A% @9 ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 u, q, t! a% V; h3 ?2 Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
0 x0 I1 @. s2 d8 @Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* r" j7 ]' d$ La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 L4 G6 r2 |$ Xcharge the fee defined by the state.
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# |' ^- R8 g2 ^1 Q' d. s p7 YThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 O) G9 R8 `. o" _
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
( e* N/ x. b. g0 C2 bof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: g8 @, l% M/ a/ ]& Y$ {
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel s3 q) [9 O& Z% }. W1 i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" v' u1 d6 S. k* V7 M8 x/ `) {
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. K. F7 w+ N3 l& L! G! dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 g L/ g- |6 U2 C( p7 B' t% m
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 P: t# O; _% v$ E& rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 w1 s: P N6 P. A4 o8 G7 I4 S' C2 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 |$ Z" I7 z4 i& Vpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ E* g8 b' B- z# v: j* u7 rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 z7 i1 M7 F7 u1 b' _
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there# L9 G: z' q" w( K
are spaces.
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]5 a# M% I. m, H; p8 zThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ d& o9 y# Z5 t; D4 K8 P" {to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they# Q7 u" _& K4 X; M; Y4 J
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 i+ h( \/ u2 x1 Z40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 l+ e! D p8 m# X, B$ Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 ?+ s6 G% F0 D0 c) C$ ?; ]
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few- ]. G5 l' {( R. Z, \7 A& |# w* \5 V
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
7 x% h R# p; q/ v% acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it! F/ D" C B f5 U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( y1 Y0 z7 y* Q) E$ g% c6 `) ?0 B We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
