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
1 F# w$ u. q7 J; @, d7 Tstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) ^( h6 g# Z* j
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# |% P" D9 O, O2 a"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) N$ Q* Z8 u; m# L) ~& z/ x" [; l
answers to our pointed questions.3 n- G4 B4 E3 o/ _8 W# Q2 x
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
( t0 a+ ]; ~% }: v! h45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 [) t9 p; ^1 S/ S( zout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# }. ?- u' [; L" n6 k: L
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams _% c* J+ Z ~) f. ~, T2 }: U
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are L& f+ P- p7 M) l8 M# b
medical schools.( n' L7 O) `- \- W1 G% Q
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 |$ T3 {% B# x2 r6 s# h# M
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 C' Y1 |9 _ \# S( K) p
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
" N0 i5 g; u4 N6 l+ j' g- c5 }9 j% H7 Jassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
- w+ X! a0 m2 w# _is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to2 h: t1 P; D$ T5 v) y- X
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There8 h% d* ~3 l1 U( d% |' @8 S
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# l. V S& P1 k; H6 J$ o
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! O9 b) S u$ W8 M, w
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 ~2 k( T7 |3 j/ t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' f2 ^2 Q5 t7 C9 ^6 b
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! @9 m5 Y6 ]. u' K
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
. p# ?! Z* a5 I1 ]6 k/ s/ z, \, fsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 g2 s5 O, Q* p+ o
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% m( d' P8 d4 L( ~# k6 O7 Cthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. T' d1 m* V/ ]; H3 G" N8 f8 G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 l) u- l. _7 [
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.1 C6 q) `8 l$ ^' m& r2 ~$ Z5 |
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When: h/ Q m( J; [5 h5 |/ b& Z; r$ `
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* P0 f& `2 c9 T& ]! z% e
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 N1 G1 S u d5 ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 Q* L# E7 p4 s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
5 k: d' Q& a3 q, C4 _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ c P2 F- Y% W* r
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
0 V8 m1 o3 B7 k1 z3 N* g* cworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; c9 c" O# _- e$ E
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
$ n1 Q6 j( l/ e7 C7 U9 _$ K8 wyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people' n1 T0 y V/ J5 W7 u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch @7 ]7 c8 W* Z" y6 S t; g+ r
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. s j1 f: H+ m4 ~2 {; b& l6 t5 d
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" m5 [# U- Q+ fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
8 @- e0 ^: j! s5 z% d4 Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 F) s1 h9 A$ y {3 ~9 q
are spaces.$ S4 d# u! Z: K- o& r) m1 f
4 R+ q- I1 [- @ Y' E+ Y/ JThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi# \+ V+ ~) P* @7 s$ i9 r- E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they$ G% d" u+ }5 }- j; O+ `
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
& ^! ]/ G! m9 @# n. L40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 F T9 b; C* I+ r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- W% b5 n- k' k6 ^! V) H. \* gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
2 D( w: [. @1 q, W% Z0 E: d; d2 Xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' j" o" b1 l2 F4 ?
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it f7 [+ a ~. A7 s9 N- e N" y: Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 a6 v) X. t9 w; i9 ~$ ] We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
