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( a2 C! U( `% F
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 M& P# \; r) g* w; W- uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,) ?5 \) w8 I) q) W% @, P
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" c7 p" ~ @( Y. e$ Yanswers to our pointed questions." _4 z& p- V, g3 M0 t2 W
6 R# G& o3 Q$ c5 KThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, i Z: L; W! o$ i0 Q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% b* i! F' \; w* b4 ^4 Aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* a* q3 ^ i; ^1 Qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 s* _1 p$ B( E! ?5 s1 `! {5 g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are8 I" {* K) U/ k, C
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' I) s" V" s6 ]. ^ Fgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 y( ^2 `5 z3 a" r4 C! k6 d( D7 k- A( dto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years5 M1 |2 l5 d+ \ A3 |& s' o7 o/ k* ^
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 m9 J) g8 l1 j" uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! R2 Z0 A- N* |$ J( G
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
+ I! T# N6 _9 @$ j8 q, ^) Kseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
% T+ s9 S a' t$ H8 k- v% Tmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 ~% {0 u1 |: h* f; Dshortage which the government is addressing by converting some4 M& |/ h* j+ R: y
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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% {3 T' o* x+ y% G+ i# `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 A1 c& s$ t7 j& i; \, u
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
9 h5 `6 H5 C, s; k8 l5 o8 ?" w7 L psupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* Q& S0 P# T6 l: h% ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: c M7 t; O v; B) v' \6 Q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' O: B# s& k2 u" ~/ Q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 f1 i& x$ b4 M; d: b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 H# P8 ]/ h4 X+ [# [$ T! DDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
+ ]0 J* z) K' ua lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only n$ o' Y9 i' q1 @: S% i
charge the fee defined by the state.) f% Y" y- j% I+ ]( L0 v F
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
. s) |/ d' l: P' ^% V; T& kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 Q0 D9 {2 u+ j7 N' T5 l; |% x6 Q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 e" I1 ^/ t& N9 H6 _6 b+ _) w l
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: S" O8 x/ ]3 Z% y, I9 L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ v/ H0 s: ?9 o6 p8 nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 u9 p: J. C8 v+ R
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
0 k" G1 w+ {! k) q* o2 Nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 t7 _3 \4 |. x4 L" [( Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) a) b8 o7 T) ^/ P/ i5 \, ohiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 _( i9 O/ k$ q+ B* [. [( t2 f
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 g, [: Q3 E1 Z3 `- wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ r3 p) f& H. n$ I7 Obuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& |2 ~( [3 k3 O/ X' h# \% ^are spaces.$ k" c# t ]4 P- G" r
1 w( U" }+ N% j/ A6 P$ a9 \2 m
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# U5 k/ O* V6 h/ g* \/ Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
! ?$ X. ?7 V5 F# M2 U7 qown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ V0 y. v* U; ]# k0 f40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ }9 N! f1 k! |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the5 L# X4 C1 ?7 `# W9 D
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% x7 K% U4 U7 t3 f, f! Cnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 t- R7 J. Q4 V1 y/ \6 E3 J7 scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, ]. Y7 B5 O8 S/ S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.6 c- M) U, F. q% Y# H. j, |
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
