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
! i& U' p5 k+ c/ Y; k* r% jstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) E1 f/ `% G1 z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 V$ }1 M, T2 d4 w"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
0 M; x- h9 p6 o- Xanswers to our pointed questions.+ d7 M+ w6 s& e( A7 Z/ {- T
1 {- J) u$ d$ K6 k$ z3 H3 o- ?The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
; H0 |" z4 b B! _" C( k45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 ?8 s4 S+ @' Xout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: A: g$ P3 Y/ bfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
( `; y8 C2 H8 N# d. x1 w3 |to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are0 G, \( |5 Z. {( c1 S
medical schools.' W; q0 a/ u; |$ t: W- W
3 o; U0 q% J8 t1 I' ]7 CEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ ~5 v, M" Z# Y+ igovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
3 G4 t- V" R) b3 K3 P4 u+ Z: Uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# a# e7 k3 ~- D" W6 f1 @: o
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
! p( Q' O% ]0 o# Ois from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% W8 j+ {8 J* y4 g& t- nover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* t: ?0 k" e) ], C$ k
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and/ U6 |* w* @/ ?/ a0 G
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* i' g' b6 U1 W. [2 M# x
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
; U: P) H) z. \' f. Wsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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+ M) e) E) v, m+ S- c( Q$ W# ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# ^* r ]& m y6 bprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 |( O0 J' ~* O- E& N9 P
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people! }: w! v: Y/ `$ ?8 X& Q# \
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
# d" u7 q" k. V9 n3 Q0 T5 Uthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby0 o3 l. F O7 X; U! O" I# b
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
4 U- o9 b8 ~6 O# }divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years./ G2 r( i: b6 |3 p& s
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 B7 I+ t) Q7 `' n7 {
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
9 H- Z6 e/ q; ^7 d0 v8 L7 @charge the fee defined by the state.. J. I5 H" C; E* b+ F( H( }" V
: i2 S: l3 l0 I$ f& P# U$ l3 @There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
3 Y( f) ]! n# E T; won), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 r; T7 U, I; C9 t wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. ^" @$ D, u. M/ Z; L! Ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 j- a9 U+ K/ P& {
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
+ O, F s7 g4 y: |7 sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on- l- T1 w; ^* v2 P8 ?9 U) w
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- H+ F( {1 H6 G2 A. H" nyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
# G3 q% P& E. e3 J" K% d9 Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ V V# `- ^' ]' L/ c+ G% G# J. H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that% r& D8 ^% t6 x7 p* g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want: x/ W/ D$ y6 s2 }0 V# l
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or `. |9 d* l5 R7 x% d. y8 C; Z
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there, \/ A; ~% j8 [
are spaces.8 d) V8 R8 q% \7 V3 l1 p
: {9 p$ w# n7 z0 j# n: x v/ U- G" P
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi2 y x' B: d1 ?" |
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* c" P% N9 I2 Z9 ~& K
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the: G0 [: h2 o% M$ w9 N
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
. Y! B3 r4 I! {# C+ C* H# B9 M- r8 lparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 ^! ?# _) u. x; R& F2 g# L/ ~
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% m' ~+ w5 \. V# Nnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
' l# x+ A" d9 D$ n) `1 f' x [car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
. o5 T! ?& r: a3 Y! ?, Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! o7 `4 g" ?0 y( P* D7 ]* E We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
