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" W( Z; K6 F6 u) Y7 ] u- M
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 x+ X4 w+ t' Y! Q4 @3 W1 ?on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! \ i% m# `9 w* R2 q( {"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give0 O* [/ F: c3 ~7 F1 R7 [9 v
answers to our pointed questions.9 A9 W. t" N: O! u( ]0 E. E
) x$ h2 ^5 ]; y! d3 s; _
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 A" e. ]% G9 Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# C" G3 y H9 P8 V& d0 T; e5 C
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 x3 ~3 T( |( L. J- o
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. [, A3 ]3 ~. T1 c. l' y* [: \; O
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) U6 m& B4 A. G
medical schools.) K* E3 V: b! K; t# p
% O, h( q' o$ {% w' bEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 E: J7 A7 F, s( O6 T l* s% ^
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 M* r& L" A/ ~( i* x- C5 V
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- [; | h& @8 a& ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; f3 k; D% ^: c: O/ m: z: Lis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 G+ h# h M" eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& G- o! D$ t0 r: a+ Y; j" W# yseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
* M* r" Q/ d$ Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
) |# Z5 I" t4 o9 d2 O. z( jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some; D/ I- A* O3 T; f. e8 G
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.3 B% _4 [2 P X* |
+ R8 f5 y9 l6 {9 K' ^$ l W
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. K1 A6 ~0 Y$ Q/ m3 [3 j% O) Q2 p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ c: F, T' f# |9 rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- w3 I* r) i- g+ P6 }, B5 x/ `/ whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 h9 ?" U; R' _4 A, W$ Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 G6 T3 q5 l6 y0 w9 N( s8 d
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" p# o5 r) q! m5 b e& b6 Tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ {! V4 O( [5 N* O2 }Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! |: o0 X! n. s% Sa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
t5 w$ M6 n, B2 t% O1 U0 I2 Qcharge the fee defined by the state.
. L# j* e4 n& U% Z8 H( Y/ r1 f1 {. y
8 l3 w/ K. w; w- x B( h) QThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" l0 M6 B! [7 O7 D6 f
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 ^% F4 R7 } M a9 U8 C
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- v% `" ^0 P) U5 \) H( m1 A. P
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. K2 X8 X) M' t; A+ Y
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the2 T" O# R( ^: i! ~
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: b0 l3 f6 u* U. D A- a% cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) x+ l0 M0 }7 o: f* ^
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
( W9 U# S9 \4 B( f- jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' e7 h: U/ |# s! k+ c. o8 ?
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" R* N2 x2 k% w" U7 H
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! a) F1 `, R5 `4 q# dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
4 t7 c# ^# P7 G9 j+ ^buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: d6 d& G3 g0 s3 [& R& p6 B% sare spaces.* Y/ w! Z+ _! e- V) l0 T
7 m) B. e# r! N0 o) UThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" F: |. j) f2 l' e9 f& h' ^" K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) e3 ?- ~- }1 C+ M: V3 z: N. Hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" _$ u E: h3 s9 {40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different3 _9 v ]) M- ], ]0 T5 V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 U! z) ~# `8 _5 E( a( `) g# Y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
7 h. j9 M, l' K+ R2 x+ mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" a1 n* R9 l9 r# E3 s0 ~2 k8 J8 [5 xcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% F; ]% j# L- p$ }; D# t3 Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ Z i8 X, R0 v/ }8 a3 ^ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
