我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 [& Z$ f0 F( V: H- f. |- x R
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 g$ r. `4 H" Z+ {/ _8 t5 P$ Don a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ D" R7 y" M) f2 H$ L$ |"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" x% i* g" a+ Z: q- y, panswers to our pointed questions., C% y; U& L: F1 Q5 ]1 ]- T3 X
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,. S3 |* V! x4 C7 H: t9 @
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand8 |2 x& p1 K! u' F; {" o% D& O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
- [8 j5 G$ g$ i vfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ |, I4 d- k$ A% V8 Oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are& {6 }, A( R3 w7 N3 z9 T8 c1 ^1 h
medical schools.! y( m" U d, w; z q- o4 d, h
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the% J) T2 b# G* M6 _5 _) [/ Z- Z: j1 ~
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- Z+ o& x1 D' t/ q) r7 N$ l* ~
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 S0 ~& K, w" x: ]4 k
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
2 ?, s; Z6 R! |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% Z3 d' ^4 L3 h! Q; Hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ T/ I9 b0 ?$ k0 @4 ]seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 J& b% I! G; M# }mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk; }/ p) ~7 H4 W# S% s4 r0 G
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some* l: a9 w" e7 @) U4 X" h1 A3 w
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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$ f9 L4 a7 R0 F) `The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
! b( C2 a8 J" y1 K" H: _/ Nprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and8 w$ w, K4 c9 s7 G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( F; F |( h; ]) @have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
* h5 s' D1 j3 b ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby ^* b8 n$ H5 E. v" F, }
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 b. Q$ k' O: l* G+ r3 M- v* E
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
: ]0 u) V0 W7 X/ |) xDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: L' q3 i( G8 i" u
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only( K/ N( Z5 t( C2 B
charge the fee defined by the state.
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. \0 D) ?! y% `; lThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
! D0 V3 j7 }9 o6 I7 Z0 h. @% K$ Ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
^" K* c3 {# Oof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big- {( I" T7 Y' |( F" z; T: r: Y
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# y2 o+ r% {% E2 Zseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ l3 j$ [# s( j& Wworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: j' A5 a( Y% R4 |2 p7 G. t C4 s Cschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
; L0 X+ A: i3 D% @# xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 n/ I# B. ~' c+ w( ~trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch) P2 r2 [# x$ O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) x8 g5 F& _7 x8 Q
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& F2 M P0 q* O( k& eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 q9 K! S9 h! A3 q m6 n; Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there. m* N, ]9 u9 n* y
are spaces.0 I, g$ D2 A! l" b$ S' }) \, {
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 M. N* d5 W S+ x! u9 Hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" |4 H$ V" g9 J. a* R/ D/ o: O1 i
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 i n/ B1 {5 t9 S40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
3 I9 Q9 j) w) t5 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! S( `# k$ a2 ^' e
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
$ v( `" {$ j+ d- L9 r( g/ Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: j8 o/ |& ~9 c8 F U$ w0 d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it. v: z4 P1 N8 {& i
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 ?( H- B, Y1 X5 t& E7 y. ` We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
