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 W+ y% G; W# v1 f0 r4 ?
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( ~! j& k) f6 s1 |on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
$ E$ j P) \0 K; K; d"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give4 f9 h+ ]: Z/ |. L
answers to our pointed questions.: O( a( B' M4 q# ?
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* Y1 U( u2 U0 T1 K, k45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
* A/ B) L5 t' Zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
+ \8 p6 |' {/ O+ p5 g4 A9 Pfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* z& L' U& ~# ?. _# h8 Yto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ `$ |, {6 v$ bmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the; l0 y% Q" U4 ]# V* ^" d0 g
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 F: Q# Q- V1 s( _! o0 rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* S$ e+ r! N# I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba$ _2 U [8 N: t1 u$ t4 l
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* j: Z% M; q5 J5 Y9 n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 R9 c( }( p' @5 V+ R: tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 u9 `: g: ?3 n. Z' {mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk- B" E' z+ r8 l# Z1 B' L$ K
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! l5 Y9 c9 d% p, wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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y$ [. v1 {( O( f. YThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
* T" V$ z/ x2 u4 {7 f0 s/ tprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 j6 @& l. C E1 G( j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, c7 x' r. r, J3 I
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
! S1 h- e9 F# ^ ~thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' D( v8 X/ H# P! rsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- l+ B% m# }, f8 X$ M7 n
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.# H) v" Z% q ?; Z8 j$ Y' [
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% Y/ m1 ~' l2 x. T% S
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 Q2 t6 R, n: s. u) N2 [7 u, E
charge the fee defined by the state.' z s9 M G. W0 h, ~7 r5 x
! n! t; ?+ l; j+ fThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* q% ^- H: y3 ?' ^* Xon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type0 y: u( i7 b9 }+ z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big2 l/ S8 C7 o$ k
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel7 i8 R3 d" w% U. \$ ~3 E+ |# h9 A
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the O2 k8 u; J" y) T" }6 ]) s
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
3 i% }: n) D/ A5 aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if9 X; Y! F+ U, z7 ?- J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) }7 M# [! y1 P4 ~0 q: m+ ttrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- H' v( L( m: s( w2 M0 {
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" k8 ^+ ]7 i4 x) W# f; l Gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' l# p! J0 \! ?7 ?% \$ m1 X8 {5 x
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or/ q/ S6 W, R% ?
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ ?# Z9 B+ I0 Z8 B) @are spaces.& ^8 _, |0 u( E+ ?
1 t1 V" C# S, ^. @There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( d0 L) }0 a) i t( d0 L: `& ?
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" O: a' T1 p4 _ y/ |( H; y5 W7 X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
" G) j8 p3 I) x( [! r40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
+ I/ D$ Q1 K' U! W/ K/ Fparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 U$ ^" x7 R/ ]# a) L3 n+ ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 ?% z5 ^6 i8 ~ e6 i
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
: ?1 `' [5 k; F* |car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ V2 _ d& E# }8 _0 [/ @5 O
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# B: b, b% U- R) ^9 I We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
