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
- }$ T, n Q c& a1 B8 y5 z7 ustandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ d! H5 X7 \* V2 ?on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, ~* z$ `/ |* Z$ e ]! G
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% ?& \7 ]$ G& S" ?; L5 l3 ^answers to our pointed questions.5 B/ o8 D! `! l
) M* O1 t& x; p) R0 ^4 JThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,2 x) a" n, \0 y$ ]6 o
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 v, s3 b* n/ s% \out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
, b' E1 t3 e _8 J3 t9 ]$ Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
: ^5 c9 L/ ^- w- E" S6 d0 f$ j' Ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 S& T, }+ a/ K2 M1 H1 n. ?4 {
medical schools.
* o- f, \% g6 a: N9 v) l' N0 q, k% K) z6 r* a8 W. {
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
_# W# N! T$ @3 r: ^government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
: a( N" ^* _' Q _9 ~; Tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 a4 b* e+ s1 ]) r8 p9 e1 hassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 L9 k. D0 U: Z4 nis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to g2 p- s- y7 s/ c" E0 `
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
! K% K1 e' U% j; J' C z$ E, sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
+ G5 z; n/ S0 X) q2 t7 I! d8 rmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk6 r/ k& d+ ~$ B5 Q
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% B8 p4 Q3 w* Z5 O+ R: [sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
$ M& ?' L( S j' C, U; y. n0 K
, t9 s! ]- N$ O3 G8 T, }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& M0 g2 q7 Q+ \9 Y/ V, Q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 r! T& I; f3 b) w1 L6 @, D5 B" Dsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 }! ?) O. G7 M: @; s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
& f; q' ]1 d; Z9 |thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( g; y5 t8 k/ r+ Q9 ^# Y5 [2 z+ ^sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. n: Z5 f7 H" ?# v8 K+ u7 E) t/ x
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
& e/ k) v! Q H% x1 i; E* Z- SDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 X/ u, a j! G: Y/ Fa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
! [# o$ i. S, [; u7 ]" x! acharge the fee defined by the state.) b7 y. y7 w/ c+ C* f
& n% T" k f# {: X G! W* NThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- e% ]! ~) S2 X+ J
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& x' p- B: s; b" L8 K1 K6 [
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 e" I8 J" o) f1 l _1 v. N
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
, P4 T, W: X: W3 }) }$ w/ [seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ e( i. C7 ?( \) |/ D" G- W/ J! t8 dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on6 Q" E6 T( i4 H4 A# B4 ?+ i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if* |* u- ]+ I1 O! ^
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 I1 W! Y" i9 Z% G1 ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 o% X& S$ Q* \; b: k- }hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
T7 W9 }3 |3 }; e3 h- Q9 `3 d2 Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" D5 w. N9 I; B4 K/ z8 G8 E5 Wto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% G6 s" U3 v1 Y6 U' ^6 r- d* \9 }% e
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 L4 G6 @' j/ t2 n+ k
are spaces.6 i! s! x& T4 N5 N8 ~% G3 \
& | K2 R! ]: R2 cThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' ]9 ]* y# ?$ e, Vto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% N0 s' d3 B9 j" Kown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 {5 D; m6 h& a" L) N* j2 J* n+ x40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ m* H4 o( p7 aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the. M" w; v* L/ t3 `: J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 M* R: L7 N/ i, ?# g
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
, \' _4 O* h1 Hcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* F0 \ Z4 `9 V* h9 F# V5 V3 M3 @
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* X4 H( v. H; c- j# ]) K8 B' ~ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
