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 n7 h7 J& ~# ~: t' F% A6 C+ C. hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ w1 {3 _) `: M. J/ Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 i( u6 `. D* u! h' X' K4 X"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* R# s: Q& f; T1 d0 W* [
answers to our pointed questions.4 k. S8 X: g9 E2 G) Q* Y* J6 J
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: M$ J8 {5 w0 e2 x5 ^: J
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: C# @; V/ D* A, v
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is5 N7 R) n b1 Y& ]' C
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams# ?3 V9 j+ | a6 j* e" ~0 e8 I
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
& s' ^) j# H; { e) tmedical schools.) U" F5 m' C6 ^* u# Q
& n4 _3 z) ^: u5 O0 _7 N0 D8 |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
7 e: j+ j1 i' q; f, @government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 _* U# o+ l" }( w+ B
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years+ P+ D( m0 f4 E, ?6 Y1 c; x- q3 h
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; J$ M# X% k2 e4 D: U3 L. L
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to" _7 R, C# _6 A" s# W# D) K# S
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
: n' N1 s$ Y5 L: W. w' ]4 g$ ^seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: N9 u$ y) A7 Y; K; a0 c/ \' b& p
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 [' k, W' `7 T. ^! e
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# O3 P3 H3 d8 f- @9 }, C
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ u/ Q/ [. a u. h) H" f- M& X! jThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. o! j' ]6 C5 y4 t2 gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ K8 L2 E& w/ g8 I, wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
0 l |/ _0 U/ F$ O4 j, c1 U' `have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good" j/ n# y1 l/ ?: V" F, A
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
, F' C, y! m/ V3 U) M4 [+ d7 ]sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! H4 T/ S; {, ?) p) Z4 v& B0 q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 T2 a0 P, u8 ~Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When% z9 r. I' c) c1 Y0 Q
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 P( X5 P0 i: j% Tcharge the fee defined by the state.4 ? W3 Q R4 k5 y7 |& \* s# i6 _( q
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ @. _$ A4 N: [3 z$ o; mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type2 R- M3 t8 Y% t& G/ ]8 S5 f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 B& P* x- z; _& F1 s( Mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel1 h4 B3 Y+ N6 A' x5 ^5 J. N& T
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
1 e3 n- ]$ T0 xworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
+ x5 n3 r/ u' ^& sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
+ N5 Q/ P5 K! [' p& R7 b" P+ \you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 w! a# h* L/ y$ [1 ftrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: {2 Y. G& x& B, `3 P6 U( o/ ?hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that' H, E4 S& c1 i
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
6 Q$ ~* r$ O0 Y- P* m) {3 u g, Lto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
7 Z( d# }% S' a. gbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there* [# j: e0 C, @
are spaces. _& \% `3 I- V+ h& d' l# R
: y3 i# w$ u0 L! V1 z2 V QThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
& D. {( i6 N( I/ O- y1 j9 M s( xto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they! q! j# N* x; S3 f5 ^3 F$ R
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
# M* H \1 g+ C9 R5 B, n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! H) J+ q! E5 F3 Y( [7 X: Yparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 E+ e, P( a/ V7 g" t2 Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
/ b9 K1 K* _& {& Tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of( f& c1 B. r K
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, G$ r5 Z7 r+ ]: J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.% Y7 N5 `3 r7 o# t& b
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
