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- l/ U; {8 c, Q6 @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
5 D: l2 l7 z) _7 ^0 kon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! [2 n. X6 r& W5 k4 T; `"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give: {0 C& }& Y1 q
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
8 y3 N6 X2 r, I( A2 G45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. E+ }7 d+ v Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 R+ C- Y+ N' L) }free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ @1 O: x, [3 c& k# ~" F2 i* [; Jto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 w$ s \) P7 K% K$ {. N( z7 ^medical schools.
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' ?! S6 u1 b' V( |9 T: L7 s3 ZEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
- W( s; q% ?' P$ Q( o* A6 Cgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' |. N. _! a1 r) O8 \ K* c$ I; |to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years) L: m/ J4 L" e: C1 C
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba9 c5 j2 N6 q. T+ V
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' C6 S$ ]0 ^2 w8 k; _5 S# Tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 K. Z( J8 E* \! }! ?) ?" {seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 t4 v: Y7 s# u3 u
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ E. g0 C1 q1 G3 Q$ @5 ~
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
$ W2 x5 o8 i% d% s, Z5 U/ usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# E& V) \* O) h! q$ h8 pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 G$ t6 Q- u& ssupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people% M3 Y! P; l/ g0 H2 e0 K
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; U: G6 T: _8 U7 W# ]' t2 }thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 ^# e2 B; Q0 d+ hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) R1 h( q+ T; D: @" I3 Q F/ `- i5 Gdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years., k/ {: m! X* ?5 W* {' D& R& X
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ Y6 ~" r+ m- a9 k8 F. o! g
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 W7 L, g' I; n/ d' @charge the fee defined by the state.- p) l0 O# X) w: a3 d! W
: |; ?7 e/ f) Q- w7 T6 n0 E( E0 [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get2 H( ]/ q7 Y% Q. v+ `/ c- w+ c
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: P7 e+ T$ o% }% Z" x
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, w, g( @& r( ] v" E; q8 G) V5 Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
, y3 y9 p8 v) I; I2 G9 B/ O' Dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
" [' w5 _* A2 Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 ~) U) M3 O! z) c. ]6 @4 V1 x8 Q6 c
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
6 y' n5 n! H) h5 h$ S( C5 P4 ~you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people9 I% T5 `* X2 \3 }. S3 u. X
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch! h7 ?; h: r3 E
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 Z2 R& p/ h, P9 j7 d1 V% S' y% ^, g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want1 ?# `0 C1 O+ o6 o0 I" w5 Z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& n& f8 N' s& N f; p, {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 c8 k, I) s3 M% h) u! l
are spaces.; p! a+ H' l T( O
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ M+ c# _+ [( o+ o: P0 {
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
4 f; |1 O4 H1 h) F$ M L, \3 r$ Down a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
N1 H" q: L* Z- g" D# `, l40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 ~, [' [8 n6 x1 J( v1 e$ m: x* G
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) K$ x4 B; x2 {) c3 bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 A' g/ U9 A$ C, N2 n
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of" {$ B9 A2 \: Z7 X& _! ^
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' t" I- X* S0 P+ f+ x
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
3 S- i0 E" g3 |' e( C We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
