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
$ B* V3 v H* Z. Ustandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 Q6 n c* f8 u/ \$ C1 }( \ o. x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" Q& o0 e8 y' ^! |% A. W1 {$ X- O- f"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give! _3 e/ r. F8 r e9 q, X: d
answers to our pointed questions.) n: G% }4 i# {
; D8 @4 C0 H c7 PThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 `1 p6 P. y5 E r# g1 m- ]6 i45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
# `- G: m7 t; m4 K, j* dout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is N* B9 K- ?; g- D9 X: e( W
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" h* Z8 E7 M" v/ [$ W1 Z- ~) Q: i
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are5 i8 I6 U2 Q2 e0 W& h
medical schools.
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2 t0 N0 T |* l+ g+ hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! x9 f2 `9 t$ k- Igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants6 { \8 u4 J+ F- S! M# Y
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years' p) P! r( K1 A w% g+ z: N
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
2 s4 T* \! m uis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 G1 t$ i* l! ~: B; [: j1 Q
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ Z- A+ N" M2 C8 b1 I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
3 o2 L3 {) u( J0 `mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& G1 W' t! U3 Y' o- x) Ushortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, Z% O4 b3 Y4 m; F7 gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no9 e6 q# Y5 k/ j+ N0 D
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
: I1 u: |& \2 {' U+ H. V5 {supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- W* e( C: o. m( B# g+ C0 Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
: P' D1 c% x4 ?1 _thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 j3 ^; |$ q F' ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- [7 y/ h+ T; k5 ^5 k6 M; E
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 m" t3 \2 q5 q. x. x: ^
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
) y7 M8 n7 o& t% C, ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
' F5 g J5 |6 b' jcharge the fee defined by the state.: Y. d9 |1 T% }! \
! e3 z0 `3 b UThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% a# W/ P6 ?# B" l+ h3 j$ U3 pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type I2 N G6 W5 W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, [1 [( r1 J5 g* a' E% _- B1 s% Itruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 A. P( w: c8 @( @, i. v& E" K1 |' Q2 f
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 i/ N% x) {& |( i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' T, M; W5 s3 i- dschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if' F) p- R% W$ e$ ~8 U5 {
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 I, q6 D. h6 C. M4 Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 X) c6 W. v% c: F5 r @" F6 U5 i: a
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
- B- G. o) {0 d# i Npeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: y, V9 p) {. l# p# s8 [to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 S$ y* e* v' e) Z+ F4 Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 a" A: G2 }) G; }- _' u! R& Iare spaces.) c% x7 s3 O' ^. g- `
0 g$ C- {; T8 P. X5 E* g$ MThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
- \; k2 x1 u$ X, i Lto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 s/ D2 v' E) [. U5 Z' V8 i' k
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 U. p2 u' Q1 x& ?) F5 d# B
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different. i& @, A( |/ c$ u7 V, }
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ @7 X) x" Q4 a; T& j3 E5 o% J
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% r# H; D. x7 w& n0 z: z3 Onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ q0 U. @; Y0 f4 E. q; z" t4 x
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
, q2 a' Z# I0 D, u+ tis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned./ A0 u' [% |6 i. q; S0 |
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
