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
4 F3 C4 f6 J" y. F1 ]; fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 [3 [! v! j, P
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,0 p$ u( t8 V4 v
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
3 u1 r4 }, C9 yanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& T" ?, x2 w; ~3 D3 N0 x0 A: y3 t
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand" W ?0 J j' }) a5 \
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: i( S2 [. {# w2 F. L. X* {free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 Q4 w7 e D7 P! q! N
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are/ B$ n+ b5 Z9 R4 p/ i# d5 r
medical schools.6 F8 _4 W* r; b# E3 v
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 B' K( y6 W- p/ M& Q kgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 r4 `8 C# y1 ^
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
+ W, O0 L0 Q$ ~- x, t1 Kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: Q- h; ?/ t) z# W" k
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 O7 S8 T, l! O1 a
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
9 M. Q8 Y& R, z- p5 \6 n( {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 ?. u* T# \, t9 [+ {* u0 Jmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
0 T$ |, S3 |$ ?' Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
& ~( Q4 a' `' |" [. f' ]! ysugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.( Q3 P# g/ X5 ^/ ^" g' l& i
' @; O v f; b6 x( F# QThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) x% o+ s5 {+ r. }3 a5 s" @3 s' p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% s# c& k% w u2 T+ R# h" h
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. D M( J$ s+ B! G; o
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good! Y+ L7 J, M; f& N }) u9 [
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
T4 u, k5 p& V9 y* ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& x0 {0 G! h& h# j& Y) ~' V1 Y9 L1 edivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 T1 X0 e- I O! hDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 ]8 d, B2 M( A8 h/ w; g8 c8 aa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* ~3 b' a- V z7 t4 b
charge the fee defined by the state.
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3 |1 G( ]" {0 \There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 g F* t5 A* m$ h
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 _6 J& f$ I K" A% X
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: A( G" J j% d3 N4 z* G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
" t0 ^8 ^, H) K% oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! F3 |% U( m* Z
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 ~7 e6 t i4 d, d7 Z$ q
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; h( K& x+ f+ A- Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) c& s. D) |3 R7 o# s( ~$ F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' O5 c! |+ p: ]+ h1 j0 |1 p
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 f8 `6 Z' ?/ E2 kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# e; B4 g _' bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 y( A& A1 n& _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! Z$ l) p5 [- o# D% `) a
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) ~( c, e9 w9 C2 ]( `+ ]
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
. h+ ~; Q5 D+ J8 gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the c3 V# w& b4 B
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& {! ]" m0 V& r( J- p: e' V# jparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 K1 _& _8 C& e+ xbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" }4 \ O& K9 @. Q4 y% Hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ L' R3 V3 H$ @* j2 acar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& q4 M4 ?( v6 u2 i: @
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! X8 V1 n8 I: A! z& ~, k+ |( r We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
