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
' r4 ]) b7 g9 jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
. F* I7 R5 ~2 z" A6 `# c( l3 f1 ]on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,5 ]( ~. L- k8 a/ `
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 c; I# N+ r8 H3 |# F, P4 Danswers to our pointed questions.; j- \/ E' T7 |% h8 [. j
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; h+ F: ?8 l# Q' l4 Z8 m9 @+ x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% m, E4 J9 C, q) [
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is8 K9 d7 W1 }: v" t" R a* T/ c
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
- i1 ?0 @1 h" B1 K2 ^to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- ?3 \) }( G7 A1 b! V
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" y- Q' \4 r' I+ E+ H4 W4 r4 i/ Hgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
( a' |% t- g$ B* `" Uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years N a3 |7 V q) t T
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba" D8 H2 c& K {' X
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 [+ e8 j; @# B9 Xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 a: z/ l& n5 E- T+ |seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 g& n# G) V9 j) f1 Lmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
' t% S0 U8 d) i5 Tshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- F; `. @, C+ l9 Y! n7 Y& rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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. g. W, B' x: x+ S1 b9 ]: n- AThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
0 `( K9 u3 v2 H9 [* B5 g! p7 ~private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, D Q: n4 ?3 Q
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
" ]3 D' `1 Y2 m5 X! u( P$ I2 vhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
+ v7 }' F: i) A" F- E$ \* w7 Jthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
7 m- ?0 O6 e& c6 a/ rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ R( u, r6 y5 f/ R) `8 s, u9 Idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# N, H/ ?& U) N, @3 }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# l- U9 I `7 j3 w
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
$ ~% x5 ~6 Y7 S* g1 j9 [1 M: zcharge the fee defined by the state.
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6 b- \' l9 A! WThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
9 R q- R" V) v5 `& von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
8 L; O$ t6 @! {# Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 E2 d/ `" b$ M1 utruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel: d6 E9 Q9 R' z6 z0 F# h
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. [& l0 a0 i6 R }) ]( t% h8 {% r
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
: d* b1 v; t7 ]! J( oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 a0 c9 B- c; ~- x5 S
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
g9 w2 ?& A( S# y5 ]% ^/ J; f- dtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 l- W% v/ m' F$ j. e9 E+ L$ W
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 ?8 X8 @! Q$ S9 \8 x5 _
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 E# n6 O. h4 ^2 [ |4 s$ {7 kto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 C8 G/ y$ |1 R: V Z+ R4 Wbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
! O1 S4 @+ z8 B4 K3 k% dare spaces.& f& O+ l+ J" u0 S( v
" Y0 j% n, }: g4 M1 v0 _There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 W3 K( c, c; a4 W {to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' d- M4 K# l3 w; i! i( g4 Q( r* sown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 z. v0 q( m* f40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- R: Z0 W+ u$ \' W+ A( Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the# E0 \& { j) z+ q* G% B$ ^
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 a- W6 o6 r; ~" d
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) j, S( a! u: h. ~" ^
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 L9 q: d( B& R6 p- U
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
e& ?5 u' p V5 p( D We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
