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( |# X% V4 A, N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
v# @ h6 w. a4 [0 N% i* O ?, eon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
: t( P j- U% k; s"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give( g1 O( G) }/ T* r/ u. `: k* Y, J
answers to our pointed questions./ b! j5 d1 t9 |" u# V$ W# Q1 {: D
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) c$ u" Q' o! [* H, C
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; z" t( Y& m& W7 F
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 E8 {2 C. E. |free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams! @, D3 }. ]+ P. K* w
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
{5 m* l; J4 A3 O* h0 p: Cmedical schools.2 F4 f" K, I1 t
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; _) a1 ]( G0 J p# \6 u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants0 t o7 D$ l' a% v
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
! m+ } s3 x c. |) Xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba6 k& a! g% I: e9 J" l& d* i' u
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 U5 g3 I9 G1 v$ f' K# l5 f$ W
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: M" `( F* _0 E/ e4 qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
: t# F; B- |6 y% O8 ~mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. w( l% m2 i4 s$ S! j$ j3 K+ G2 g
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- F. ~- T5 ]/ y8 p5 Hsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.4 q: Q( J$ p1 U
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no7 y3 |5 o" Z" U) Q3 G. j- h* R
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# y8 R/ ] @/ [* isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ s5 T! i& r3 I- p: s1 w# X Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 [! }3 t/ a# Q& ^+ F1 D, othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby7 j" T$ }! N8 O+ N% i
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high8 u" T) Y( B8 h: y% A x
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 a. R0 ?5 t4 [- {" w
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* S2 Q7 Z: I6 d
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only. H' Z8 Q3 C1 M& f- Q7 P& s
charge the fee defined by the state.( [) t& p: F, n6 J. C
1 d; E" S- }9 _$ g5 rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 }+ r. S, v& G2 a( ^on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type# |% ~4 O T$ X" w
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 K- u- U. [! D/ n1 H4 xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 ~/ x a' m& ?! l5 O4 Z. U& J
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 f4 r% b! `# D, g5 I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 E5 D+ ]" q5 [! w; s
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( ], U0 z( ^7 g" D% a1 Cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 |2 I5 W7 ^/ y! n& B8 r
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
% m; t; i: }( ]5 B" \hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" X5 M! F+ o0 [( gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
+ X: s+ a* M% p0 L4 k: X6 B; p/ qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 P8 v" h0 E, c, Z lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
" f% D; D! F0 M: d; O' R' Kare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! f- s% U/ c' A" p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& u) T/ }7 a- h* U2 T. O1 Z& Hown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( P' C/ v. |+ {/ D" k# a/ h40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: O4 r. ~, U& W8 \parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 h* b4 X! a- V. D+ u: w4 H$ cbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few/ ~2 u8 x9 L1 ~8 x4 C
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" l: D5 I3 I7 j3 u. k2 P
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it+ L; p& [( j( @- @, K9 r- z7 z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 k6 y% J) x, @! m1 \: C7 z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
