我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 ?( L4 C# N8 H3 K1 t& `6 b, o
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went: Z7 v, ~5 `0 a0 M0 M3 Q/ z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; w, C- p8 X2 O( N. T. s0 E. g"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
* T" i/ U8 ^& Danswers to our pointed questions.
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3 J5 q/ E+ b9 m3 IThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' |) S5 e+ _0 U7 W+ d1 j3 [7 m$ D45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; U: }% X o w) h( u' Bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: e" d* c$ q& y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( ~3 R8 x X! X' `/ z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( E6 J( c; ~: }; s
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the2 q# V' ]7 x; R! O0 ]1 h& {! e
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 j: g5 [ g% {, q; a1 bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% u( T. I& T9 r
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% E6 o" D0 ~1 Y( N, [/ bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 ?+ n" t7 s8 ]1 Q* ~, ]! v
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
* a( m1 j7 f1 E# B. Wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
6 j6 |# \# A( e0 \mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ Z7 a1 c: `! U9 | y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 }) n, t% B* ]7 T+ ]* rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' _, ^+ n1 c" ?
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* q! O& L# F1 e8 u9 H
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. G: r* N% |* ?% |( i! [6 m$ ^) J, ysupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 x/ z# D1 a# b0 Q3 k0 C0 R: Shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
4 C( I Y8 @+ i0 ]9 Q: Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby2 e" i V) e0 z0 k% R* |6 D
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 {: D/ p! A4 g) m. R3 qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 p; Q! }. f0 {! V/ K
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* c( F8 H% m1 J9 b! q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 t, l9 Z1 o0 lcharge the fee defined by the state.& t2 S) _/ O8 ?$ N& H' R- d
* C" m& M" V7 LThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
- w. {# u8 [, [5 e2 Don), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 X! u6 ]7 j) g5 q& |' x% zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big0 K$ @( e7 b% a% A! O2 U! Y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
! x" p/ b; R( Z- tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the/ {* f4 S7 ?+ b% Y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' W) ?" c1 K; `, sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if1 ~+ D6 w: }: Y+ L
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 V f8 F* m* B6 `! Q- |' p8 Rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
/ A6 i2 {) A! D$ j& rhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 b1 j6 Y7 D- p0 `people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" Z, ^ `' Y% _) C* V2 A) y- }to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or- S9 g1 P O, t2 |. c, }& h% G7 t
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 @+ y7 _' K/ H- j% ?
are spaces.
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5 m* A5 u; c/ a0 }0 i) TThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& @$ A4 A5 N6 G" }5 I8 C, Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
& @; f0 v; }' a2 E. Oown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' s5 A1 v8 O4 Z& t! A" I; D40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; J) \/ a; r2 @+ p2 V
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ a. ?3 _* M9 w6 s+ W2 A' ?best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few3 n8 E! Q9 u1 Y/ G3 D9 ]
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 W- e7 a) C) V
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) O6 h8 R% A8 _- B3 W$ X* M6 his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
`. ?; s" ?# Q4 u8 E We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
