我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 n0 f* Z7 j6 v! w7 s U6 N* ?
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( M* ^: R, H& ~* T
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! K: E/ ^% l9 p6 @7 F* }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
7 \. s$ @9 J- t: B8 S: manswers to our pointed questions.
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2 H: d1 F+ {4 c8 E A2 [The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,( G/ o) Q2 G' l
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. ?$ X: j) n; A1 E
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. n. I& x3 v' g
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 H5 ^3 p I" t! Q9 |
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ i; c) ~: D+ R; h. a) Q$ r1 D3 @3 _! dmedical schools./ C$ s; Z7 ~ u0 p+ K- M4 g
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* i/ \5 `" K( K9 ~+ zgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
q$ h9 O- c2 S2 Y5 Lto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) w. h$ r4 A$ g+ N) f: i: d- B
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
# s% u6 Z9 u/ B3 F+ qis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
, K/ M7 d/ u0 ], R& m' x8 xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There2 v' Q' \% @, X' o+ d
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 D1 m9 @) a0 C: T$ w' Gmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
6 T( v! i: I* v* d5 q! jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
4 a) t& B" Y0 b' J2 b0 {: E0 _8 usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 ]) t3 e! n( r V
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& R# O3 d& a" ]: X% J1 T
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" p# Z7 x* r" e
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' u# ~3 D0 _7 y1 ]. w, X' i, ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ o; h( I. A* E+ ]- b) Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. Q8 r; w; B+ x+ x4 X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
n2 R- g4 F' \! O- ?5 qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! T4 c' }" S9 R6 E! xDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 h: R- n; x6 P/ ^a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 d' y; Z1 v, v s6 vcharge the fee defined by the state.% H5 Q5 [' R7 J1 @) Y R
, j( D$ `: r- @6 _4 ZThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get C& p( m8 z9 v7 E3 u2 a
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 Y* k: ~9 H4 b$ b, w# v8 t
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: @/ o) m) Y+ Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel" O; U: t/ t( D0 ^' T" g# U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 H) Q z4 B2 L# G$ @/ ]* V
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
! a& x& m* W. z( T; h/ {/ Wschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if N! y5 d0 G2 L% p/ |: B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
" k* V% j3 \! W) @6 a0 wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
+ O/ I7 D9 H: W+ J' zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 A" D* h; K' U4 F- @
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want( |/ q2 M# w6 K/ [- r: O
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or5 k* B" I' |3 h3 w: y! u
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there$ y. K+ p& l% M9 P* x
are spaces.( d# u9 w: u+ T/ s& ^" H: }
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: S9 r* Q' J& J0 x/ {& D
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& X- f% m' K+ F" M3 Q2 C! C% {own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) e# Z; C$ i% C& O" Q8 p
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ j8 j/ _( I& s Y
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. d1 ?* o( _& ~
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few0 z" f( q" N6 A8 T, _4 m I
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 H$ M4 ]% E" o- g: D+ J0 y. Z Lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' A1 x' z( k: U9 t0 r$ o+ H
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ G+ i5 y) K4 a) M# ^ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
