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
% Q1 y0 y4 N, r2 p! Z3 }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went A: Q/ H& V- w; ?
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 e8 q& a1 p' [4 X! L"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
& R! X5 I# m+ Banswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& N: y' W6 r! U. R% i
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand( a; ^3 P/ K& `! w$ Q
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
3 U6 P' [# k( {- |# afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" v# N- q9 W% Q" zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 @0 N9 e8 h! y* Vmedical schools.
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; ]+ Z$ \0 D3 N* B y9 YEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 I% C* q; u; tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
6 P& J' W W, c k6 y+ @to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) E1 {+ L: ^+ j* N7 J5 xassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- l5 H* R& O6 m+ eis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' n& y5 i# X4 r$ K) n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
; y$ ~' ~0 H& e( S+ V: r8 |% Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, c2 N H. Y" ^3 S/ Q+ f3 p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. Y3 z# i, ` y# \! e! m
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 F5 Y6 ]2 W( L! c5 H+ x
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands., x; j+ B1 ]3 }
7 P* s. K& S; J* z7 GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 E/ P/ H: Y( `, Wprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
8 N3 O/ G" j7 k' {( C2 osupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people& w' d3 T* P0 E) a7 ~- C1 A
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good( s) J7 Q8 \& f. R8 {1 B0 |
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
/ Z4 z \5 w2 d: C+ Ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
7 R' w5 J8 D: S4 ]7 p3 d. t8 X+ qdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. C- K! b" d: E9 w$ q$ {& e
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
& Y! g" U6 i1 F4 @; Q$ W2 c- J0 B& va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
7 z! `% h# l! N& g$ Xcharge the fee defined by the state., i& m* w" A1 f7 r( g+ a+ q0 J6 U
& `& e: R* ?" ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ n) d( j1 y( [7 {on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type w% D/ D0 {3 Y% g( a8 W( ^
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big7 H2 N! H; k1 G9 K
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
7 e3 j0 n, r: E8 `$ C3 x4 aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" F) x8 H0 K: e: nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* [7 r, S7 Q9 ^& u: |9 q! N Fschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; Z# t) f/ ]3 a* O1 D) y; I4 K
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 j. t) R; N! Z; I% z: X* r- M9 ^5 ?: F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch( C7 d3 W/ I9 d- u V
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! N5 k: f& Y# T$ E6 h
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 _5 c% _ h8 H8 |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* P9 s5 K7 u5 d5 W' D& G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: H ?9 p3 x; M+ Yare spaces.* i/ h" h+ n3 T7 U
& y0 [2 p. K6 t1 [% y( }There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" K$ D6 Q( {- [, ]5 |2 @
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 k. H: j( E* c; v0 J" X* |own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* f3 [- r( W/ z! P+ `! ~2 j
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
; y5 w$ E" ? G0 n( Rparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the0 ^ X3 G' k7 L! Z! H! i$ ^; C. H0 |
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 j; f6 Z& O4 u$ fnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 Q6 H+ c& y/ g6 e; Y. ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& Q% o4 P' G. B2 h/ dis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
{4 _9 n X* e8 A4 _: Z5 j7 T We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
