我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 a0 w6 @# P& Z) D
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 \9 S2 c, P4 e
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," p) h. i" e- h+ x/ `% g$ u5 {$ x* f
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% A6 G- Q) }1 k" c% [% N; K
answers to our pointed questions." j. G- `, Q9 |9 U/ G3 H
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* w0 l) o% ~, w45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! |4 D7 B& x1 x+ N/ C! `2 \5 s2 k3 H
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is+ G. Q; h Z7 o
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
, o) ~# S4 d' @- a- M/ j0 s0 q- Yto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 \3 r: q+ X0 F' P9 Ymedical schools.! s# j$ N* H- U% d% Z
$ Z2 _6 {0 z. p2 C7 R5 a+ c5 CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- H& ?% K0 F& H% O% }government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
$ Z5 {+ A1 V8 m1 \ @( Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: B# T3 W& K6 l W9 l* w9 s6 S: Eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba* v u" b! O# ^6 a! L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 K; h2 P. F* s
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
% w- r8 F, S4 j0 Y) zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 `7 l( Y% g* `$ y! k6 H+ N
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk9 L' M, m/ {* F6 q3 `
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
6 }. n9 D7 [. |6 isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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4 A8 c3 C+ Z7 n1 s. c2 v9 QThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 |5 ^4 Q" ~# Y% L5 G2 |6 p" @: bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: R |4 \: Z7 Jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people/ y9 y9 m0 I6 n. r7 u' k) c: x
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ ?7 A; D- K3 h6 \1 [8 z$ q- U$ u% g, }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 _- a& x" ]6 @0 w- ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" q, A T/ ?% { Mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 ?( }9 P) L( l: S, `/ I% {Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: a- n' \2 W0 w2 p4 O. Pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; J! {. ^ l8 |: x7 U, bcharge the fee defined by the state.
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# A, J7 ~( [/ r3 N; `There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% i2 Y; [/ C, @0 }0 i& @on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
, ?7 o) y( |4 V3 Y% t; q) {0 ^of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
7 W7 s" @1 Y( Q W2 j: i. S5 utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* T- ?! o4 k: e" r3 Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! T5 X0 B1 R& S- a+ L4 f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on2 j {% o8 a; }$ C' \1 @1 t$ T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' H1 k: c) @) f: J3 J. y: _( N/ L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 S& t h: v6 O) |) @0 k- g
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) M7 a! |: P7 `; X
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 ?3 w& B; J* n" k
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
* n: G5 m' O* Eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 T' Y, Z0 b8 s- ]! j4 a9 X) J
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there+ P+ u% B {# \3 [/ x+ d( i
are spaces./ Z3 [! }6 c0 Z7 ~% t- q
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: F; [# c1 }5 g( z' ]) x
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. X( q* Q1 L2 V, K. f% b0 {7 G$ _- y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 Z3 k1 j$ E G) j$ m$ @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. K8 W- J( X; q$ Y1 yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& k9 W- l" W4 g' z; I1 n3 M& p+ Ebest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 z0 Z5 L1 v3 A) j+ fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# R! Y, [0 R* \0 Q/ r1 wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% s" y0 y: }* `6 u2 D
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. m. I& d1 G7 s, V4 s1 E+ E! D
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
