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' l7 v5 d$ O- m8 L( C B8 C
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
8 a( |- e2 V9 M( ]on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
) c( d# l2 r& I# s"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give% P9 f+ T8 K% @; G
answers to our pointed questions.) G9 k% t! T/ f6 y- }7 i: t/ d
: j2 _6 b3 P; @: N: ^4 a( u9 CThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: I$ K8 m3 L8 u1 h4 P3 @2 B
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
; G5 J$ ]& j4 P1 Z+ aout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 s3 ?7 h3 H( u- Y8 s$ Dfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 z3 U6 m+ p1 D) L, Z
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
_6 _' d' i2 W2 l/ Q( v. i1 D( ]& Ymedical schools.
5 r3 Z. D* n( n/ o5 D4 y- K c1 |+ }+ a% U3 B
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
# Q- x- q5 ]3 Ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants. f7 c. N6 {: Z( c6 Y1 z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
: A+ q# b2 I8 [: p2 d6 Gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 \' t. y4 h7 `8 l+ kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
2 v5 g8 Q5 Z# x# Dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% E O+ j9 T7 f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- p5 U8 s. W' X# C& Fmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 }' N9 Z5 R& v* j" x4 x* z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
) x: ]2 A D$ Q2 l- i* g5 o& C o) a1 Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
0 }$ Q/ ~+ G' U, ?% ]8 k# F& B! ?7 P; |3 c
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no1 |" S; P. l5 v E/ E" ?( d4 i( K5 B
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and, f! r& f4 Q% t" `0 O8 {3 o9 V
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people( J* D$ L8 p, ~* t8 U5 e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 l5 J- s' I, X" w. U( p7 T4 ?& Ething about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# j! F. {5 k, [; ?
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
. s* m2 @. C% Y! r0 m* Idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.( U8 e, v* o* v6 x8 ?
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
: q+ k, E& f6 oa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& N7 e" X0 o- G' D( {% w, ~0 Rcharge the fee defined by the state.9 _. H/ B* V. [0 c% x
0 S# G- t3 Z/ d; {/ M, WThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: [( V/ l* N8 T0 fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type! z: [6 ^/ D- B! }, S9 s
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, Q% J4 i2 w6 ptruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 U* x0 {5 v* Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: E8 E' n2 Z: U- L4 G/ ^) t3 Y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on! z6 H' B6 g" r2 x4 D1 H
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& m: F$ g% {( ]3 V3 ?8 n0 @. eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
* j/ s9 c4 M0 u* U1 A' n; ?+ Btrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch4 F" v j& @% m1 x2 E H* d
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" A0 q1 v. r: o5 p! d/ ~) tpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want" y' ^2 g0 k7 Z5 X( w0 `2 {/ \( ]0 @
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- z9 a$ V9 i1 Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. w; ?% o5 B" O7 O4 K6 h( ]are spaces.
8 e5 ~+ @! B3 |9 J. |, D# ~
1 w( a8 E( t3 u3 {0 W0 ^There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
! A. N& S6 ~2 Tto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
% h B8 _; e- J( m+ o/ Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 d8 @& ?" R5 Y7 m/ X0 A40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* Q, m! A" P/ o# b( Lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: o5 W! d* ^2 p- X) R/ X! y( ?7 t
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
9 x% `' e9 O+ x }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 i! q/ ]$ q1 f7 K9 a$ V! U6 j
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
$ d$ \7 l- H: y" ` e: J( R, z9 ]is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 o; x9 W, E; I% E
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
