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
: a0 R+ Z' i5 g/ Gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went. r4 U% Z F/ J
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
( s4 B) C9 b8 e: z6 i" d"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( Q; [3 Y5 z" L2 Q; o4 w& I9 g& canswers to our pointed questions.. `* M+ o; @ T( ]9 \
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,1 I7 k" P$ u0 R
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 P2 h& ^: F- J; a3 A5 Gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
( {' G- S# F& k! hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams ?- O( E1 p" b0 B
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are* f" n/ o+ V; ?! i& d
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 n1 E5 B: D2 v1 q7 a y+ a
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
1 n+ q6 t/ R! tto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 j" `: L4 j2 g( d! g
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba, @8 v( K" L$ b% l' S3 J, M
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
9 s- H5 @5 j) Pover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. y4 e+ {! b1 g& Q: X2 H9 J4 o
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 ^! k5 Z7 s5 `8 l6 f
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk7 }1 Q6 Y! q+ F2 m# k' b, ~$ D' m
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 Y, x: i, R9 K) h5 Qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ W# Y1 w7 H3 y/ W! p1 H' ]The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
3 ]$ E6 S4 t# B8 ]# Fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 U$ Q& n" C3 S; n+ R9 D/ V
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
7 d- ?! ~1 t: |5 w# |have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good: N, }1 L, r+ a! G' o
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
+ ~$ M3 X9 ^2 B3 @5 a* a* usitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 G! t. p( V" \0 D" r
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ {& i% q8 g( i& P
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 Y8 X- p/ S: c$ i$ H
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
; i4 e' z" q; lcharge the fee defined by the state./ R8 g+ x7 f- J" J% Q
, Y* d ~* T" }There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 A6 f9 H! C- E% G
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
" {$ r6 k+ G6 {- `. k6 Nof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big& o5 }( c3 m0 H$ c J( q
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel- o) x$ X& e- O( ~6 y2 x
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 e7 A- ]0 j! d) Q
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 P L, E$ I6 `7 s4 x5 _7 I) \7 pschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if" t9 }4 p- X$ Z# L8 Z4 m. J
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
b- M+ C9 D! Q8 h- [6 ?trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch' k' R9 z M; k* e Z; H- f
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 m- x% V! f' L! q* kpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want' z+ i6 L. t$ }
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or8 O* v% f, J. ^" K$ w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 Z4 H3 @+ [, I/ d- E" _7 Hare spaces.* v6 M' u4 n* K; |0 U
2 E5 L' Y0 l9 \' v# a9 S+ bThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ D! _( f0 ~# ~" I$ t) M! H
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they% x+ l0 M+ V- m+ H* W; L
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the7 }' @' E1 k( y! }3 p4 O: ?( \
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, O3 i7 G0 o5 N0 ^3 @parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. }" d t. t& Q; lbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 m6 J! i0 k% @6 C# `nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 @* y8 V8 M1 wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
& W; _% `, \( _( g5 I2 h% f: U iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.' _. i$ w% T/ p! s
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
