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 N+ ~0 W, F) W! N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went8 I; u( w3 x5 ~0 |* ]
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ E! v1 {! \& i9 U5 \"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
; m! i5 f+ _( h% manswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
6 C, E0 k* } N c# B) {45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand; t, Z7 A3 t' b: G% v+ X
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* [1 x, S" X0 _( M( |$ S9 yfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ L: J+ @: \1 v' o9 @
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
% }, l" } ]1 N0 s+ qmedical schools.
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9 M5 C- j! p" T( U8 t0 W9 h- fEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the$ s& G" ^ p- N! @
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% \' g- I4 @4 I. G7 ^to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 j) f0 m. s6 b$ gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 _) { F7 y H- S$ bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 {; N" t; \1 D4 l, p, K9 b% Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ v4 ^3 b8 v6 Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
0 P& ^& z8 g" a$ i1 cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
4 ?# V0 n( b) Z9 Q: |( oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some9 p4 y7 Q& _* _; n5 Y7 I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ ~( m8 h( j. ]$ s
. h' c3 h9 h) z1 y2 T0 fThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
5 N% s1 Z i( z2 H7 s) _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) p! Y" v; u5 L& T8 [
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people1 Y4 J$ [0 v# O u4 V0 @
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 q: W' i& ?6 p+ i& h. l7 K
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! E4 H$ I% y- s4 ^* O+ y( F( k# t* Wsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high7 j8 P; l5 [7 I' q! o
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
, X. o% L" O: {* qDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When) R, \8 x0 W1 J e' D0 D1 C
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 Y, e. ?% n' @. \1 V; s! O6 h% }
charge the fee defined by the state.% p8 k+ v# |* D+ b
( Q! J8 d: ~9 h1 G$ K) U- J$ KThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* j! c5 a; {! Y, j+ C
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ T. c. o- U- `/ E, F! L
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ n; \2 o9 |! O$ ^truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
/ u: y) c. b s: _; ?$ Z- Sseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 G% |* C9 ~" i8 n1 ?+ }4 k. Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
. M9 q* y/ f5 {0 R5 K- Eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
/ Q- u, h' A6 }) y# u9 V; F3 O( \you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people5 [, T0 {0 X( B; S/ L' x) s6 K7 F
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ K" r' r& E* u5 ~. h J
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
; G! a. y' G$ d2 @8 U& |: kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
& ?" B7 t1 w0 ?+ _to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& B* C5 L3 b+ p1 P. i* K: V9 cbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
" k+ Q2 l& n% G: V D6 e, K( R0 ^4 e& @are spaces./ V) Q. I0 a! y8 v; Z9 R
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) W# Y; h" |, R# e( D, ?! ^2 J2 E
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 E1 X: b5 h& _
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# l5 K1 x4 @" [8 C40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
9 K5 r. _3 @* s; B) y/ e: N3 bparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
3 x. Q! [/ P. N0 s, ^ lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
+ p/ Y" v) \" S& V4 lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
! N$ _6 A. ~! ?8 _/ m) d: N6 fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
* e( i8 V" A, X% `1 G# His a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) {9 y! }- M: E A
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
