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
% t. I) j% J: R! `7 rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
* U: P+ C, b7 W6 N+ X( s7 l6 Son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
8 z, F/ u* q z5 w8 z"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
q# R1 T8 \( Panswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; K8 z" O- t1 Q% t. ^0 f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. h* b, y- s; R wout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 d$ H& F/ E! i; Y c# D
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 G! c; H, z7 n4 c
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- G" z- i8 a! C) U0 h- F' y
medical schools.9 \) l$ b8 w8 P/ o% g
% K3 U; l& l$ \0 @Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the, e* L% z& |9 L! e4 G1 `# l
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& G. _, X4 R# A+ U. ?+ N, ], ]
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years6 z' _. u7 y# M; b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
7 X9 s V7 x/ E4 @ \+ g8 `% u% ^5 ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
! a- N4 z# V- x$ X$ |# g, gover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There# S) _* R4 J- q$ x! Y4 d' }+ F
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; [+ K# B+ N4 o( L+ s" s: Bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) P: R; v4 y! u
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some8 f/ `7 ]( E- [* W0 y, C
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 G6 b; A7 T# ]+ c3 V, c8 ]2 b
* l' N5 e/ A5 c! cThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no* U1 F, }8 H4 T$ k: i
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 d* [& {5 b) f% M* }5 m0 G
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
9 @, V% ^0 A; n) _5 E, mhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
. a, g; I& L9 d% I8 b& K; g2 m5 Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 X* _; w/ _" z8 I$ I: Bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( ?! I( g0 C M1 C- T
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.3 f. W1 Z! A+ ?' _4 v
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" r8 E$ R% w4 P5 ~8 i4 Q; P Z0 i% ya lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 z. d6 e* a# dcharge the fee defined by the state.
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, D+ Q( g1 P+ Y/ B! p8 U3 ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
! A: F' o+ w2 O2 D( J' Son), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 t6 w2 v: V: r. t
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
3 ~4 b4 A- A8 X. E) ^: }truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 {% J8 u+ M4 [9 J6 Q: m3 r6 a: ~
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
( o; K! z# z$ F; b1 |- J+ z- I' Tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on, G8 e' R/ c+ S5 s8 n4 @2 u
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' N1 ^8 j6 H9 Z4 ?3 X
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
, _( R: p7 \' o- h+ {, strying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" T' J' C4 f% i! R9 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' {* ^0 E u) |! E6 b- n+ Xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* l, W9 p6 K0 M( @4 \
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
6 ~$ a6 r% v% C$ u/ K0 |4 mbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 W$ x2 C8 [$ E
are spaces.! o& L: q8 @! W, V. W
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi4 _8 r% F% i! C8 ?0 D, ?9 U
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# C' Y2 U+ u) J+ a+ Gown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
) \% k3 q9 L- a0 N* i40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
% V. }/ w" G* E/ Qparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
% P H) r! ]' Y( f( k8 @best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 G! j7 [/ A/ n" g& G0 @nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 s6 ~+ g( O# Q( T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 N7 T4 u! R' ~! a) Xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ ^ g a7 B2 W We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
