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
0 s& |8 C/ n/ r4 ?3 ]2 B: rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
' Z/ q3 _ V& o6 V/ L( \9 N5 |on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,! Q/ @$ W) H/ _( h: t0 d! h5 B
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give5 H- } f) _ d0 R: E% F1 w0 N. k+ l3 g
answers to our pointed questions.! c! q6 @) H! `
: I# B, ~1 m" nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,8 K( h# m' r' x
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
+ S, i! X1 Q& U+ pout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is0 r' \. Q6 M6 r7 r: l
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
1 P/ H) @% }) j) Cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
1 k! q' ]( [4 U7 B7 i) R! gmedical schools.
7 c/ E. D$ @) I4 f8 {$ i* Z1 F; \) a7 Q7 ^8 m! Q! \8 T
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
% ]" f( P8 R1 l7 Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
. h+ R" p; g/ x: h" Nto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% [% C4 W, S5 N' \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& F% P+ F3 Y0 u8 h' T" J7 Z- tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ n3 Y0 e$ C: s; q; B: Jover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There3 X" C/ H. |* T% R
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and, m& T% r4 {# e
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk5 f3 X0 {9 x# }- z" V( ^
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! h- W; @- Q& s" P& Z3 F" c
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.0 L$ O3 h6 l" l& l+ K( r
" Y8 [+ G {! N9 o2 a& GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ p4 @. `* |2 F# {& b
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
' f8 Z1 V, p- H! Z( ?supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
. v: ?2 N1 e9 \# ?: e# uhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good6 L0 b/ R3 b0 d4 |; i Z0 a; r2 l
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
. Q: N- N* ]; c3 B4 [ z5 K9 Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high' n* {, c9 A( y* @1 k
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* L& v# d8 m: e% aDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
w' U; Z" K/ p0 u! C4 za lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* G: b) \. w9 E+ o: W1 O* R/ i
charge the fee defined by the state., d: Z0 k+ t* G3 A/ g& z. G
, k: M1 S5 j( {* }
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get1 I5 r0 G0 t8 Q3 L0 ?+ ~5 [
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 F) G9 ]4 H% e3 B7 pof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big' {1 P. |" E, W& J# Z
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel+ h1 G4 E/ m! M/ _/ T+ X
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; j. K0 v3 R% ^( e3 w' V$ `
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on+ O# W: q9 p8 V
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
* m9 \: s$ t9 V Myou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ N; l1 t% S" Itrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 N9 N. m/ p$ @! d! `8 O
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) g. _5 q( A |& t" ? [, d o
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 k0 p7 a- f$ \# @8 }6 T0 Eto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% a0 [0 c, O* o; F) R! N6 c* N
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 K8 [3 I7 L8 w9 Dare spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi z! j) P: G; Z) b% I( r3 q' l
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they* C4 M4 I3 x; P* L( y$ g* v9 Q
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ t7 `+ s7 N6 _' W7 |! v& N$ _40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different9 W9 E) f3 S$ u3 S$ `' }3 _3 o
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 g. q9 [2 Y9 E: Y' b% F
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! j$ ~! E3 ]- m6 knice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
5 u/ R4 U' E, ?car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it' J% ^3 K+ E6 x1 {% J8 g
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
! V" G$ A; [3 {8 M6 o) | We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
