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. Z+ v5 E* e- r+ Y, T, R
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" A; g, H$ c# @ ~on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,2 W4 n) |0 r( d) b& x
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 B" Y. `+ ~5 a- D" v& s$ F
answers to our pointed questions.4 v% x) N6 K# ~. ~
! \2 V& h1 n& a5 @# X0 H1 lThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ U% V7 r' ?7 u' s0 X/ @7 F) X- t7 G45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% b$ n% ^4 ?$ G' s M0 Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
0 y. \; _+ L. i" Z$ L/ Afree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
X2 h/ H2 j) a- Z4 r9 Zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) r+ g8 l8 N/ ~1 A0 T: d: c9 }9 k1 @
medical schools." N O4 f# ~/ F5 c5 v0 g# j, }
2 i/ w% |0 x! lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
1 {, S4 H1 ~2 Z& {government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
! p2 w, ^6 F8 k5 k8 j* _1 cto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ H* p+ W* E7 \- J( R _8 L
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 Y) H# Q7 t! S% V
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 |7 R) e+ u% p2 Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
( y6 z0 k0 ?8 o u( ^/ Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 e' J2 p" K/ ~$ D
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 |, u7 j0 A5 s3 }shortage which the government is addressing by converting some; O( v" b, ^( b" R( ~. d0 |4 g
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 C! z- ^9 u* w; A Z. ~) D$ X0 ~% S
2 d! |/ E+ j6 s' `2 RThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no; p" L1 ?( K; ^8 [" l2 a& h3 w
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* {- f C& V. j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 ~: c0 D8 ~* x" n, ^
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good0 }# `+ e; s, i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 w0 R1 l7 G: {5 f! h. ]+ ~sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high4 D$ F) F( l* c q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 L* q" b. l- _2 ]$ V& CDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
! p; W4 G. J* O% Oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' o& i: M. L- g; L* g
charge the fee defined by the state.7 P' ^0 C$ G5 y' x& ]% S' s* Y
) h& @% _" ?1 g. m& H( aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: o4 C" T: R R2 } n: jon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& n( t+ u$ u$ b+ C+ ^7 K
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 o2 Y8 \9 m K9 o, b* wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% V k, @) m8 h. w! z5 E/ F2 K5 r) oseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the* P+ Q% e% Z4 A% S7 b$ F5 c* O: Y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on5 _0 H% Q" x9 E% N
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
% j4 w" f4 I+ Q! [& A, \' l/ X4 Yyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 ~, d( D. i$ ] Atrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: {3 h l& y4 \/ n: c% G7 |hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that( Q" {7 B; ^, u
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ n0 W3 m0 s5 q: P; m: ]/ l
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
' m+ d8 W9 z& i) [1 Z& Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there: l# I5 K* p4 k, s8 O/ r
are spaces.5 c: b4 o# W5 x3 g ^
/ I* Q' z* A9 J" SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi) R$ S/ Y' i5 F
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 k! ^0 c! P' A* `; S7 H7 H
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the/ H2 ^1 E1 `! z% _# A
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& O2 T6 p! Q+ h5 Oparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
8 |5 M- w. u# N( e. n+ R- f6 l/ {, abest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 X4 K) n9 n' B/ r# K4 qnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ @5 N3 Y4 @4 c& Q' }9 u2 }$ y
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
1 K7 d$ \& Z Iis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
@$ T3 d1 L7 k( X; V6 H We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
