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
8 W! M" q8 p5 qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went, m6 k+ e A6 B8 T# o+ Y; y+ q
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; |3 h4 }2 O5 u2 P- e: Y+ H9 ^"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. ^7 B$ m# @7 M+ ^
answers to our pointed questions.5 J6 ]9 [% I3 w( n
6 n9 c1 ?# `" `7 Y* M! L! \The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
1 ~& I- G( c: L5 @6 W0 O, k0 F45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 i# ~3 L2 {$ _3 |4 r9 qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& ?" T& }. [) M$ ~
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams' ~" a+ j3 W* E
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ B* _, l% R9 \+ Y4 zmedical schools.( F6 r* r9 Q! G8 p: E! H7 b
+ |, k( F) w7 o* G' n' V4 d3 \
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' S7 r/ ?, T0 S+ R, H, E3 Q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 F+ b h0 [$ x2 A+ p9 M* O) Q9 u: H
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 h# P* B5 O. V
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! ?( R) a/ s( C; Vis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# f* ]% D+ \& V$ }$ K5 M' o) A9 Gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There, Y. O7 O/ U* V6 I( v1 i. V
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- ~- _5 j6 J* p- Kmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk4 W! M& L4 l; t& e }5 X
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
' R3 r. L6 C, x, f4 J' F7 Gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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# H6 S6 c. O* l6 WThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ b. e+ y) D+ L7 Q! }& S
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and& P" f9 X: H7 f3 Z- O' r! L. L7 M* t
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people; h4 x- k+ Q1 z6 f: U( u
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good8 B& I' R$ s( b$ L
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 U7 F) _3 S4 P+ t6 `5 K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) o3 `+ n, V+ P5 D
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.% N; d) K$ A( `0 ]( F5 c
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 F5 v+ j# J1 d2 o$ W+ Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
/ } z3 C& U4 v* G# a% I( scharge the fee defined by the state.8 O( q3 U# a) I4 i. Q4 P4 p
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 w9 W: y- f- [. v9 }3 H( Xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type1 S" A* _! Z3 ?6 q6 y, u3 {
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# w) ]5 d# O! e* A% d
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 c& h3 v0 z7 L- w- rseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the6 f. o) M$ Z7 Q% i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on# u2 L6 C1 k' h
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ e# n$ W; R: i$ n$ ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: Z4 ?7 {+ O" F0 e( \0 [trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
F4 D( E* h M2 m/ _hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 Y& w+ v! @) T1 V+ ~
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) i; W& u; ]0 ?. m) I: t1 }
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 l9 ?3 U0 d3 W
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; N8 ?2 T- @$ x" I1 B" P0 bare spaces.% d: C. }' z P% o2 ^+ @
q, b) I+ i" Y
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
7 Z5 K! d6 r r0 Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
9 Z! V6 _2 b& z) p$ k" B" Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( T2 f" I7 E9 Q0 `9 g4 n y4 T
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- F5 y, b' B) ]1 ~+ x7 \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 m/ p b9 ^5 y8 A3 `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
( m% N k/ G! dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of M) x/ j; H1 L# D1 s' j# n
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 V2 K& L8 z( t; |( Gis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* q; u9 D6 g/ @ c( y; z7 _ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
