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
) j0 O* i% u6 ]* S9 astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 m1 S% B% f J6 K, u+ n
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,* ^6 {( u+ f2 I" M% M- ~ z6 g
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 Z6 ^4 v& c; qanswers to our pointed questions.% R- ~3 l5 c# E# A1 |3 S
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; N' c r: e1 J" L- y3 i' ~45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: x% l' c+ v3 R
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! }, ^% X8 B: T/ @
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ t+ P+ x$ |, w% W
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
+ i. T6 U8 N) ]) p7 i* }medical schools.8 V0 I1 O. l; b- C$ [
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ b) t0 m+ S% J1 ]" ]! C
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants Q: p4 H1 e% T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# ^; ~+ ]' W( Q* p; f
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) Y. u o0 p1 [4 |, }: {# `* {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to G9 m7 O( c0 I$ @$ g
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# A- S# W8 R# w. N7 Nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ E( G: h \+ l- s- h* s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. i: x* N5 _. T& ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; x6 e' h" D/ h: ^9 ?' j- P* J9 Q
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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9 i3 A- v4 I1 d# G, R0 zThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 d6 d, B; r) }* T2 l: C! Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: U9 }9 n1 O0 E; ]9 L2 R8 dsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 J3 `0 O+ T& v$ ~2 [$ P
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ Y1 w. L3 c# `/ V) ]5 [8 e
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 Z' Q- A" _, Z3 W( r0 esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
* {4 s2 y8 X9 v0 J/ Ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
" ^9 P4 ?' p* Q8 ?) k. ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 e3 X3 _0 t7 @
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
F' i+ ~+ W4 \: @) L3 T |charge the fee defined by the state.
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' y' W- r- R j8 i4 K {0 UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, ]/ W! ^4 ^# ?
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' f2 o2 C2 m: \! ^
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
d' Q- \( X* I' V2 z* }truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel4 F4 G: T$ Z" G+ G& t2 A2 Q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ O) q7 g5 ~/ s6 e I+ ` N/ R
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; X. v$ n3 f8 f, l/ v8 ?9 T1 N( bschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! ~! ^" E o" I/ L8 S$ zyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 R- j$ f5 E) K1 h! l2 v3 K
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) R; N2 j9 ?& q) q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) r! c2 L2 g0 M! f5 C* y/ w0 Z) p
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; ?" u" o/ @1 a+ j d2 S/ }( Lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% ?$ d, V$ L# @2 f+ @
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 |* ~+ h4 f6 ?1 bare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi7 G8 p. a" C4 @# B3 ]' O2 f. O
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they) L; t6 {; ~% _, v
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; ]" @9 d4 H# T5 o0 O0 c40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
( V. o% C( X* F* V3 eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 p( b* O1 N( t% |best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" n: S3 {# g" _( l" b8 b/ J' a9 bnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 m6 N9 s, k0 [2 t) L
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& h2 j j, ~$ ?2 @4 y* ~6 a2 ?+ L+ d$ [is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# t) D6 o2 n5 s We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
