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
* @$ N9 F2 k7 H5 Mstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went/ l4 N5 W8 i8 p1 s
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 R/ S+ K; T) P! T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give+ q, z, ? {, f; ]! X( R
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 L* c8 G$ D1 b" [+ P45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: P+ ?( p) a: |1 Dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% L' a. q# y5 E& C: a4 i
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
% O) D9 t6 T G: |- \to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are6 A( l' I/ H4 x; L0 Q% A" F
medical schools.4 D' [# s1 D2 G, a
2 l- v. P9 d" w9 i0 k$ XEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
, T2 g! e9 D- sgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' U& m6 t$ _# `7 X: ]2 fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( N6 ~- b$ r( _: g& e: m
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
) B6 j9 F' t( ?6 E0 Mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 ]2 I6 q% k7 K9 m) E- xover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 t0 Q7 M, ]+ B+ nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# c1 W, N5 j- [$ W- t! Z$ c- b$ z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 G5 |6 U; c ?5 j) ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' v8 t) ]! Y, \+ _- s* e/ R
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' d) b8 T* d& o) M5 r! {
" H: g- P6 k7 vThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no+ D: m: J# Q* @" R L- B1 X" W- |! y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) w3 X; `0 u8 p4 i
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people0 c) P: T" u8 S: A8 U( t! N
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' \) e, ] \3 b( S5 othing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
( N: u' k: q& Bsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high. k6 p( m4 ^6 A# }
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 A/ t; A+ U$ D9 B9 v7 e" E, D
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* X7 Y1 F! |9 O' k+ _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only) O# I! T% \: ]4 j2 p
charge the fee defined by the state.1 F$ K( K, ~' J. E2 D& A: k& j- [
' Z7 U4 r9 Q9 y- |There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; c0 T/ R' l/ K
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type. X. ^& r! c) y! f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; H, E$ a7 B8 {
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
4 z8 ~# T0 K0 E$ m* k- |seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
% @* [' t- J% yworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on; F- R i% K5 l% h' T4 x Q0 z$ A0 J
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' Z }, S- y" ^0 \! A1 gyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
5 w, u* w& s& K) ~$ h5 Wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
4 e( k l3 D+ E U1 x" [" ~4 L! thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% R- d( k/ L. h, e7 E. h8 apeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- ^1 q. m# ?- y& ?; y/ Q! V+ |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& p) w+ p6 P7 N4 z+ d* ~; ?+ L6 U0 t8 G
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& n9 A: Y' Q6 g$ eare spaces.2 O6 |! ` O7 u. d! z# z! C
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
; ?- r) O5 Y1 _; n6 U7 t$ }6 ?. [to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
/ E& L Z7 \' I7 [9 t& Town a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ T6 S9 e* [6 W7 p; V+ M) U5 R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, C! N" F* ~) ~1 v2 U: `parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- I- R& A2 U7 R3 |best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
5 l( B& ?% N7 ?( \" b4 |3 _nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
/ L- b0 J6 c9 R' jcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
" t7 d* @5 r. O7 c% D- m2 a+ h) Tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ [0 K- X# h. i1 u. H* z: x7 C
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
