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
+ F1 V4 v! Y7 D. F& w6 estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
4 l7 ], j$ ]# j+ S5 M) C' Von a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 N# c; T2 `# c+ x+ ]/ p"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: `1 x# y) Z- q' Y& M8 g! M" V, [! d
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 B* U2 a1 `! |8 V7 v45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 z9 E0 \% M& s# I/ _* K( o, t( Oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
# X/ n! A! ?2 y3 Z4 Cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 E/ S; y. Y: s4 p
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ Z# A3 Q! m4 o/ E
medical schools.3 g, j" d. @7 x5 ]* [6 z n D. ^
$ c; Z9 M! z* x' }Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ ^: Q' w1 `8 J3 u4 F ?9 O
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants1 Y% R6 k M5 b$ c, d# R
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% o, V9 m# ~& ^0 r; A: G: eassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: a* x" d" C7 U& j
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 ~. L, m* q! X" C& Mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 W& U7 ?' D6 S8 e& o8 s) U- ^: h w
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) ] m0 n, |* B; _- a" H
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ [( e! {8 B' S/ l* U7 A; jshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
3 C% u1 Z, Z; t* b5 r) h% Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( c* b2 N* z2 ?$ K+ E6 m
2 G% ]* g7 t. z' ?5 @8 wThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 w2 c6 B1 c# b) r+ T4 B' b% Hprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 x' ^: z% j/ g& i5 g6 B
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
) _- q+ v5 G8 {& b1 B% jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( e( j6 B+ \5 y. H6 Z* t
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, E2 M: g; W1 b$ U( E7 H: h0 e. o7 usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- p' |# i' K! f6 [; Fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 I w, T0 q: j. J9 e }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
/ F2 q% W6 S/ p7 j1 O- \9 U+ da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 h N U' n/ Y& d/ ?
charge the fee defined by the state.# v0 O( X/ o1 ]& M( i
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, `. V8 E5 S2 m2 eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 d5 n3 g2 o3 e; I
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big3 n; ^' Z" H( p/ d0 A" j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 B( f4 L- M! T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: k1 L2 F$ k& R: {: g( ~- `working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 t8 h7 V4 j5 G
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; y2 K" A# b, ~ d0 K; `you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! |' r9 X1 D% P. V$ L" q
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
; y+ d u* J. E3 dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! ]. N- _1 k L: H9 M$ ?- f8 o/ j
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want _- ]* `/ B1 a% k: e, Q
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- L: \& s2 ]/ `3 h0 \buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
0 g1 L& ^" {9 N# \are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
u: @; `7 M. x6 Y3 w6 Y/ lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they. q% E0 s) h2 W: C) m& K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 K: W6 i( E7 {( ~! [8 D) |40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
# h. a: g: Z. n/ Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
$ `2 A& {/ t2 d6 T. Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' l" `3 A/ K. \6 p! B' S' i9 g4 O
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! d: c8 ]7 h4 M. y1 Icar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ D' N) e: `/ O8 Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( h0 r% o! a' a- U' T8 j9 P We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
