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
+ [; K# @1 [/ qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 o& T/ Z$ e- g, y( {" `$ B( h- h
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
" V" B) u( b. A5 m# k9 S"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 O4 C) a3 k* X0 o0 u4 [2 @answers to our pointed questions.+ D( N- ~4 f/ q5 W% z
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 ^. Z; O/ R$ E: i
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand ~ Y: m! u. v) P8 `$ @8 R
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
& n r/ u" h# ]free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams& }- g, H. P* \5 N1 @& S
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are) B& F) k2 a5 Z
medical schools.0 B7 V F6 e$ g0 l2 a, N0 T
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
' m. r- J" M- Q Q0 F2 ~government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. r; _7 r8 I6 C9 _6 ]+ eto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- K% |0 e/ T# {* [assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; K7 k9 q4 S5 _5 r9 {is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to8 \1 `( ], F3 W. V2 H& \
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There& [1 @( x9 D! l* I
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and) t9 ?) I' A/ L7 n( k. f+ f' o
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk) m q# X! Y0 X) ~0 C6 z/ V
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ C' R: s: C% D, Jsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
( M$ W8 I. N6 f a3 ~private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
6 j: W) Y+ x7 z5 T+ @* Z5 s1 ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people8 t: X1 P" h, _) X1 b
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
8 A/ j$ G/ [ J; ^$ s |: |thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby" h0 G7 M- A6 H* C% n. U
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high2 q% [, F8 q9 E! z
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.0 u; H7 B1 D( U- ?
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ Z& H9 ]- `( _2 g' \
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* A, n. ]9 o9 u$ `3 ]+ P; R
charge the fee defined by the state.2 s1 @/ C, H1 L/ f& |" o {
, [* z2 ^0 L. m" l) q5 J* a( ^ g# ^There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get, X* G! W5 X- Y3 n
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ P7 s" ]* a& v& C9 S1 `0 f" Yof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
- l h" A8 R: b6 \0 Struck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 d; }2 w) y5 ?& S( ~2 u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the0 A4 n4 ?9 I" i/ ^! Z! U" z5 A0 J) j2 `
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 x }" j5 H: ?1 V9 U5 T
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if/ T9 H1 t! w6 k/ b" j/ x8 H
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 [' U" h+ V% ]3 I
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 R- b. M" f' y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
) t/ x' U5 C1 ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: o' h) t9 y/ |6 [- a& \
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. @% H) W, j8 ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
1 Z4 x7 @6 |. M4 j9 ]are spaces.: ?1 P3 d2 Q& B0 I' K6 e9 |
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! Z0 g$ d: h" U
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
2 m% V" A$ k$ y0 M0 Zown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
( k# y& f+ U& [40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 m# t+ r ?$ _' q/ e u$ w4 M
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! f; g- I$ z* `7 Bbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ b+ y" J8 ~! f1 K
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of' p9 w- X$ Y* M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! y* C4 _5 J( }% _, qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! P) g9 j+ ^4 s' J6 r. f
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
