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
# q7 i( p2 D% ~6 Bstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
Y8 H9 Y L: q5 d* [: ]on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ P8 w9 [/ o/ u, t6 j"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# S6 k, p# J( y: x) Tanswers to our pointed questions.; o, g7 R- D6 ]+ a0 @/ w
$ w& k: B% i Q9 q- wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 F( n* S$ N' }6 G9 X! s
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 z5 B5 z1 N/ D$ n8 ]$ B/ Tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
' ?8 Q Z1 ^5 Z qfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 Y* c* E% S) n2 [% Y+ D
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
( v3 \9 b0 O6 b; l9 I8 emedical schools.6 U/ ?" G6 f* i# N0 h& `1 Y
+ j+ d8 X' A0 i3 L( D* ]
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" q- V4 G1 o( m g4 }/ N
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants& X9 m, f* d) ~* T+ l; H) Y2 e5 T
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
7 O7 D( W9 q; g0 Kassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
9 P4 O. l; N. Gis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
k. c; ~# o% M, Q- v: \- rover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
5 i3 Y3 @2 {- X9 Cseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, k+ O" v7 _+ e9 t7 I( k9 ^
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
+ r( c( ^9 D4 j8 _$ sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! |: f7 Y1 ]' b; P7 T$ l: G) Xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# a: T0 f% O& I% q' _0 B S
4 c4 r' m8 F' \0 `, X! vThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 Y! X: ]0 |" F2 ~
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and$ D$ ], \% t0 y! _, l4 f
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 d* Q; g- ]! f' i5 Y
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 S: ?& t8 ]' f" n+ I3 Hthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby- g0 N" i' q* k
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high, N1 t, g' ]0 A3 X* L
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ J( A) N8 W5 z( X4 qDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 o. I6 o% E2 la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* k) s7 ?" P0 k5 Z: w7 y
charge the fee defined by the state./ N, A U6 j$ \* F( j9 ^5 A3 P- ]/ d
! m" [) g" A {" }& z/ ]2 CThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get3 B3 C) X5 K2 Z, q. n: B
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 L6 o3 [4 y# pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 d% K$ V$ C5 Etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 a- V- v" p7 {" x6 L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
' U2 K4 O/ s* R9 u2 oworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 M: B% i' f2 t: J& o. I
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, @- C- P2 _) y' k. ?" r) h
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) \! u9 W3 ^; ?" C, W/ G
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
1 \( S" N: H: r# X, mhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that/ O) U K$ }7 l W8 j+ {2 e
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want* r% ?- X! l1 R5 G
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 c: F: c) y- F V" ~2 x8 u
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there! r- T" Z& d+ H2 f8 w' i
are spaces.9 y% Y) F( i2 ~2 y, K8 f" b, k$ ]
) j; X, z& C4 N
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% V9 I+ ^/ v! G- ?, sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 ` F X* Y' S3 {/ z
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' u r$ ~& ^' a) Y# Y+ t
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: B% e. m G. ?" ^& p
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
2 \: |& @, Y4 A% {# @- M. q# `best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
" J% A8 i" P/ Xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of8 [) w) k" X; f' j0 d
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 J4 }- a( H) l# \3 V
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
: Q+ n+ x) M8 |8 m: j, P& ]0 g9 a& v; z- y' d We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
