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- S3 F6 M% }* \, m% W& Z2 f
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 {7 G9 c T. Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, }+ v* O' `: {; r" }
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ N% G4 D# S \. i* A, a- f( l7 manswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 V+ } ^% z$ p' H# b- l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 r4 s# m& k7 e2 {% T7 gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ ]3 \: B$ A; Z4 B8 C
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; ^# ~' G2 L; K1 g, Q7 W
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! C) ?9 |; \3 V# g
medical schools.' ]6 i, r5 _/ ~+ \
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, n# q! G7 [8 K: X/ P6 k/ [government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ i% i- a; P0 v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 N3 t- _7 z; A% J3 f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
R; n0 f) E$ q t2 ]# P: His from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 g% c5 v. H0 v& ^# }
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There1 f9 J7 k! P% S, v
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" t- {7 y( y+ M; n0 Amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" ~5 }* M, s* |. ^: vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 i6 N! m# Z) Y1 l% t/ W0 c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- Q: ~$ j a7 x) e# ^( Y" d7 v
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ S! t( {7 x( C! n& w4 v- V
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& {% O5 z" |) Q' J( y6 t( T8 N, U
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) h/ O9 m+ ]/ k7 a, m2 G% Khave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* P2 d q) D2 u( O! W% C
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby% q$ @$ }9 @3 ]9 M3 A0 o$ N8 b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
6 {5 C2 s4 C# b U0 l; n! ~divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& M* X2 M' T8 G& GDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ L$ x. P- r9 O3 ?$ `a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ H4 X' A! ^0 m9 i2 ~charge the fee defined by the state./ F; C; M9 H( w
+ g7 [' |/ G9 B( X9 `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) v. r0 }3 z5 y: `
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( j5 ]* b/ f) V
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 h' ~# p$ Y% Struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
( Y- @4 i; g5 f8 V( eseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 D2 I4 _5 J5 M+ p
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 m8 A" ^: r7 s8 F# {6 l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 @# e9 t# E+ M! O8 C
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 Q) @% S7 z9 E5 `& L
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ n0 C, ]) `9 }' F* ], X- d) xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
. Z f% r5 N/ e4 i9 T' Upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
9 w/ u1 J* `: zto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or9 S1 X6 H6 u$ G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# H3 b. d! @6 t/ sare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! F$ b2 W; W p" Y9 a/ j0 w6 y( Xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they4 @: c: D6 @' f" J$ W }
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 E1 `8 j$ E5 a! j40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 V7 F/ _# u# N, J" D; Q
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
" v6 j4 |, T& ?, ?8 Z8 Tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few; r+ V7 c: F" J
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
. a0 R' M" n- `+ y# hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 ]/ {; a5 p0 t3 p' V, O5 lis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
) \& Y* C" | y# o+ J! X We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
