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# u# o3 M ^7 m( ?6 Wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 u1 { s, m/ R1 [) y, W8 ton a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 U4 E- H+ q& ^0 w; |6 b" u
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
, L g: y0 R/ @, z( \: `answers to our pointed questions.
, V% S) Q* t' R$ p: D: c9 }. ?
6 X }" @8 e0 ?& `7 C' l* U; I) AThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( U- j* e1 v2 h2 b2 Q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; H8 ]9 k* G. ]9 w6 M' z1 \2 uout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
$ M- R. o, N$ hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
# ^3 g' a# i$ g. lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ V0 l6 t" l/ ^
medical schools.& W$ d6 \) s. ~/ @* Z" B$ ?
3 Z5 E+ `! z) B% rEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the: [9 _2 Y# Z2 B% d
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# ?2 d8 @# }3 { ]to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
( h" i$ _6 e* ~! c% I5 kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% g( e0 I f" sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to3 {1 |0 {, |1 O9 }: a$ M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There- x/ g1 y# t7 d8 u7 [' P8 ^/ j5 B7 ^
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and' B0 g; d3 _* _: {( h5 s
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ O) }4 ?: K! z) m7 Lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 } d) M% c( D- Fsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ I# e1 c% |: @' I/ [/ S
/ `( u' [' U. p: U9 T
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
6 F2 g: L- R3 @* S# S$ F! M" U: Jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and" Y" e* }0 q" Y% Y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) l# D W. o/ u- h1 d$ s+ T
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* A! f o/ ?4 Xthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby5 R% Y; y# [; R* L0 q, f
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; f8 N1 ~- w! j6 i" rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
W/ T$ a( A) h) K8 xDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: }3 A7 C- X6 q0 Ca lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only, x0 w/ Z4 g% ]; m, p) W* V3 W
charge the fee defined by the state.) u. Y1 |+ a$ {2 V8 m
: Q$ f. P) y- Z( b
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; k) z* `8 u. Y' w2 C, Lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type6 q$ a7 B: S* p( w& {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ d& U9 o: a0 n$ m9 m. }9 y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* u9 M( ]$ U$ Y, Q
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
! E; q+ ^. V* w, E/ iworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: ^+ h! b! M, E. e- {
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% a3 d, M$ v- {9 Y6 D* |: qyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
4 K; t* I+ U$ y- atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: Q1 V1 U3 ]1 S. X/ }/ Y/ @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that; ] `& n1 T) b7 q7 ]
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' U+ O# b5 p* x; y5 Q7 e
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 W: ?) l2 Z) I4 A
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# J S, O) _& o# \: T/ D7 F1 iare spaces.
& r2 T" I M! J) e' h n( R! a H1 U. G5 r! Q- [, t: A/ p& t5 I
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 {& A2 C# o0 B9 _
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# ]$ @* k/ A& Sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: E" \ @3 T* M/ {
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. b, N6 S$ l9 X: G" f( K" J) Xparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ j1 n4 s: x2 s* t/ Gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! s# U9 |/ T% d" T6 z' _7 r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ Y# T4 q9 ?2 V9 T+ d; m
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ E( W9 K5 i5 R- ~$ a; l
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( ?, k8 U2 D$ ]6 m4 q2 C We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
