我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 N2 J( @# \$ C/ u
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, \4 Y' y3 s- H+ G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
0 b! h7 s$ F1 l4 U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! v3 p) ~6 X2 l2 Uanswers to our pointed questions.; u* r$ q$ L8 i3 p4 A# D
: \3 S5 V0 @; I6 k" D* AThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; c' {+ B: ?- i% {( X! z" H
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
T' B$ V7 A, J$ i9 i/ tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is/ y2 L* ? L, t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
8 @% j# r# U- R$ rto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are: e$ ?: x4 v) T+ \! {
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( I6 y$ P/ g$ y& ~# [government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants, \% G, F0 r' C* B
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 d0 d: t2 V* i! Lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' B, H$ b) \& [is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" w$ X# Q2 w2 H
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
- `& o& q8 q! x% r3 T3 S1 A9 useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. E" Z. B. J* @( X6 I/ d$ @
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ c; v$ q# u# m0 p7 ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some% ]+ o' T5 m- N4 c& n0 C# x1 O
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." c" d1 z5 P: d% x) B- B
+ F# S0 @, I# Q4 \0 ]
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
$ V+ P; }8 {: o; Lprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! \# Z5 r. C: n1 H2 j$ xsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
: A# }( G% P! G: Rhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
$ |" U4 i+ ~2 w& o: C5 V. z+ Y2 {thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! u6 r7 D! H1 \% }/ W$ C* Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 e. [( v3 ]! u9 O; y! X. {1 u: U
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; j% |* t# t( t5 ^: XDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
$ I" z2 K6 ] [0 K( Wa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only4 S; ^: M; x3 D2 z7 j. c! N
charge the fee defined by the state.2 Y2 O' T" s8 b4 O
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
" s% d+ C- n- I/ T5 S/ Z' Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% N+ Y! `" n4 V7 v8 d5 t* q
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
: r/ n5 a" j# u Q( P& c# O; h Ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel2 S4 d# s( {" r, Y- r7 {
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 h- e% i3 G3 r/ T) b) }
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- Q1 U& M' H& Z2 C5 C' _- [8 {
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% ]) H K. F" P
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; B8 O1 z: ~0 Etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& A- R* J5 r7 S+ }8 U8 V& {+ |2 w* bhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that: d+ {# b) S9 g& w
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want Q, Y4 ?1 F, y/ y+ k! J; L) _8 f8 i
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 a; X& _- [! ^! gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there- }# X7 r. @4 S" O$ H; t d/ i
are spaces.0 ?2 I4 ?. l ~ B' O1 r8 z
& A! C# \$ V' L8 E& L4 Y! X5 PThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
5 i- u3 H9 x2 g& V7 x( v% k5 Mto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% ?4 }% G, x+ L9 V- uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
3 D3 C& P2 K0 Y) Q: A' L6 @! h" S40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different5 G8 y. O4 N4 p/ G, P X: V7 O, N
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' [" g. ^3 R$ n! i) {best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few z0 M a2 |* F% [4 j) q8 j& G X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ m2 }( q5 Q! c3 rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* C: j e% U" Z, Qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 N/ P5 x8 R+ `7 h9 E1 o h We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
