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
6 A' @" W7 z; y, `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
, J/ u) N: W$ [4 T# d! O7 [on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( `% [3 e$ ^! i/ M' t6 o! H5 a
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
1 z! F7 g! ^- b$ P- janswers to our pointed questions.. U9 c6 p6 u \: ~3 R( u
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
, @( c. H/ _: c' {! x c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
} k8 E3 s9 S8 i% F' v5 Gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! d- W1 J" O3 p0 T' f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 o3 ?; k/ I! P$ U! L( ]# g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: }9 x, R0 H6 Z" k9 e, K* d% lmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ P& S9 J/ Z% |& D/ r; U! a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* `$ B* I. I( w p) f' fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
5 K1 b0 w5 @: t# X. l9 M( Bassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba5 b- q0 f: Q/ R' q" t4 D5 z) e
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# n5 B; N, |- q) `1 q' Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There9 [5 f& F" G' M# p- D* Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
; l/ n3 E& c- ymostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
! |# w7 k+ j% m0 j: L6 vshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 s4 B0 \5 R% M- k* x5 isugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands." F; l9 z4 S n
3 C L! Q' S" Y7 Z- J- k- OThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
8 ]6 U" q; o" u3 gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 g3 J5 ?8 B. b7 F; A5 c5 J! _) u0 _. Ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 }: k* p5 W6 A" b$ whave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
- v) S/ H! e& @4 i- Lthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby! Z7 i( L2 I5 e, N
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
- m2 a5 d. l7 D& e0 Pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. X& h) S- `0 \2 i# x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
0 g3 m( V; W( R' i# l7 c. Z+ Ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% l* }* z. u1 k7 m# {. Tcharge the fee defined by the state." Q) ~9 s8 \7 y% @: y
/ E- @7 J3 _2 A" X, b1 aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get. W9 ]& p; k# z6 Z
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! _" I' e7 i$ lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 \# T8 q1 U$ V# f% }- ^1 O; G
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel, f1 y: K3 ~! u) `
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 j2 ^. h. ]+ L1 n1 b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& u" {. u6 h3 Z5 k5 ?schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if( F; Q: e" i# ~& ^4 v( v" m, Q" v. q% V
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
: [" ?, D0 _! _' v" Atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch0 y& s$ m' M- S$ Y! k/ }* F- Z
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 b$ Q7 B) |0 t) H; i! s3 Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ m# z& |# P- ?: s6 E
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% F- r+ X4 I ?! h1 }+ p5 Z7 ^
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; }3 N" E& ?/ Y
are spaces.
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8 E) E s* M) q+ r1 ?$ lThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
9 g4 f, s# x* K9 lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 T, b2 T- L( I) @
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the- V! t/ C! k! s4 ]( O8 [6 {3 [- ?
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different- ~/ e! K7 V4 q" N; k9 ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 j: Y0 @. E7 ]
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" f1 y! F2 C' M& P8 d5 Anice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of4 g% U( u4 z2 n. S& B* b
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! K# w2 u! Y* U c( X2 ~; h6 ]is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.4 E, ~! g# L, s) ]7 d
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
