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
+ b* E) q# ~: w, p) l5 t' |5 Xstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
: K5 v4 C- P* C1 Zon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
( j$ c! U/ X+ P$ S. ^6 {6 ~"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 t3 Q( ?* \' l. ~- m
answers to our pointed questions./ a% ^8 r5 s, d# Q. W" d+ c
: s( N* G0 z8 e! j* j: y$ `5 sThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,% \1 @) j3 P' g2 s; y9 c3 ?
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
`7 z5 k* T9 ^1 |! kout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is- S3 M* [* R' ]' k) W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 v1 c. c- g! a# W- o8 y, p1 I
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
2 m. x% b# `' [* w Rmedical schools.5 K6 [' B4 B. Y+ O' I& e) N
. N6 X* A3 h- y$ f2 n( e2 u1 ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
* V" m3 [9 B% [! ]2 j9 c) \government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants n0 s8 h' @7 q4 X N
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 M3 [" U: G% `7 D$ g# c, |" tassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! I' r9 P) z$ [, _is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 Z+ k) j8 u! d e1 aover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# L+ J8 w" ~; y2 zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
7 Q7 T5 e: }3 C# ^7 X5 j. dmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk& f/ W. p) l2 u3 `& M9 |% j
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, C' F, j! Q, o, c; o; w7 K+ G) u. osugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.& E& U1 g# }! S, _- J1 H/ A
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no& X" \* S0 |4 m& `: O* U
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
x, \* J* W2 t6 ?2 Csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 U. ^4 ^. t3 G/ W# f0 S/ L2 }
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 k' C& T; l7 ]" P, N; {. fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! S% p; u, z1 \: P9 I2 L3 isitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
8 y1 u5 a0 r- V- |: p; J: T& Rdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 o( W9 \- q; N* Z0 j; B" KDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" Z: U# ]4 i" j e) }8 E8 l
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only- J% z0 m/ y7 [4 I3 h
charge the fee defined by the state.
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. W: n0 [6 e; M7 E# T iThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: h' o! M/ X( g0 _; Q' Kon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
+ T% S- Y5 p3 t6 B3 v- x. N+ tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 S: P3 s) l. t- z; \/ w4 e/ ttruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: l& s. G6 u6 j; P3 i. r$ V* U; i* Y2 K
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the( [) |3 _+ e( A
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' ] [2 z# } s# I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 b$ g8 }- \- T& I8 b$ E
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people+ m: b- `, t8 x, M
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
) L6 }9 j' j! o1 y4 [1 e" vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 o. e1 y$ R& z7 _9 j
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
( n: G: s) ?) w+ yto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 a' [. l- v( Bbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
' u7 E9 H' S o% v! J6 ~1 y, `are spaces.6 Y7 B7 u% _! y" J0 ~3 V
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
( @& b) _* N( x4 G1 Bto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they' [7 f/ X, {9 A, ^
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
; ~1 m. j, Q9 y8 b5 O# U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
8 x/ J- M0 v; S1 Qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
( I4 n* |* I8 y$ `: n, ybest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 d3 [2 B/ Q7 f {nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of, H' G# X8 }& Y! t5 |
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 r e1 h M9 J& q- y. w1 m+ H @
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned. R' O8 U3 q: }
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
