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
3 s, X0 S; J7 |& m# b# i5 istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 [ N& n3 ~% u& g. m2 D1 X0 Bon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,4 P( n) g* M) Q' f6 q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 ?% X$ Z5 c' n. |! d( lanswers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
& H2 x& t5 P P; d" n) b2 B' l6 E45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
& ?3 J: P$ U) U- y3 X3 tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! {9 T7 d8 H. ]8 ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 k2 e& a" x- c0 E, Y5 o vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 {& F( s* V" @7 _9 y9 A, D3 k
medical schools.) _0 }9 i1 T$ e" x$ \- q5 J9 Q
: L. t* }9 `& f9 L0 t; cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; U* s7 Z7 o* H9 Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! q7 o# h9 L' B( x
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' h) e7 j9 Q; C1 b# b
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
: Q" q; I$ b9 R2 ]& Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( R, {4 w3 v* P- W1 Y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" Z, X9 H3 l3 o" Z" k3 c
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 D9 I1 ?) v8 s$ K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 q' L" x( {7 O8 U7 B0 i5 W
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
" h3 n9 ^2 P3 K( ]% Q, z* A$ k0 Jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.+ l# v3 a- ^4 O7 b
! ]( |7 H4 q7 I; d' a+ y' }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no4 [6 j' M& J7 P
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and% R( x; l; h5 Z0 D
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
! D: w; U- c3 ?9 A7 Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: T0 W0 i: z% N. O' D3 e) Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
# ]- E& W1 y6 |! dsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 B ? c5 Z: Q, ~( v% b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 ?% c9 s# `) Q& d( pDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& M7 M$ o+ t9 k# g
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
) Q. s7 j! _8 b# T0 S% Vcharge the fee defined by the state.
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9 Z; B* ], `( ]. ?. m9 GThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get4 n2 j1 |8 i9 S3 @8 s
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! g) u* ]4 u* X& K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 W3 G9 V0 J. y6 a
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 ], M: [- u9 r8 N
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# k* G5 c8 F: ?3 n* Y8 I
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 ^0 Y; T" a) g) ?! i
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if& \( K+ M3 l! `
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 E& P2 y4 a* Z% ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, I- Z5 d* e* w0 b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 K# n, j, t2 ?: z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 l1 z8 v; Y7 R W @" b2 y! Sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& i4 A4 J, }- ^% j% a( l
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# Q( f: J5 P0 X( ]3 }are spaces.
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- U1 X l$ }! a: p' \: NThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 j* a. D# p) d
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! u+ J' l9 i4 T" n0 D
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 o5 Y" ]0 Z, k4 |2 {
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 v! Y0 U1 T5 C+ B# [3 N
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 `) ?/ s& U% l3 {+ Jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' t4 t9 {% P& k: N4 o# mnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" l B% B& @% S% R& B3 mcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
+ n6 ^* X' r4 qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 B/ b4 M" O1 P0 ^2 H& \ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
