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
# v' M9 b: V. G' [$ a0 ostandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
& F0 m5 h0 a+ R; k4 L# Son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# H7 j" ~8 Y( E3 u! X1 `"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give* A$ r4 H1 ?& C, |0 m, X( m+ L
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,$ x$ D" g( [* Q# c. P# h8 x. n) u
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
. Z8 x+ n7 n$ l# _6 D' U1 I1 m5 gout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
* s- q8 G( l! `' }- F' m2 Mfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 G# s& |4 q2 R4 Uto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" W( b( W o7 f1 f2 G& Ymedical schools.6 G, W$ }6 r( n! s& ]! z
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the4 w; r/ ?$ H8 }% w3 p5 Z% U( r% I
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* f7 T) k0 H$ ^' R5 B0 O" i
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 I( L4 l% z0 L
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
{2 N; T5 G$ ]2 Ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to. Y& `$ R0 L8 Y+ ]- n
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There+ a3 h) \; e, v( ]
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and1 \# v- E+ }$ P' e- ^" I
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk i; o: Z- ]! @5 F, V
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some7 n" @* g! A R2 m! I
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" E- s- L! J1 Xprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and4 W8 u( C/ l0 u
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' R0 c7 v ?& z/ S
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* c( y4 A( o. |5 ~8 H1 L% I
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
) n$ I! E( _. X9 R7 W' }" jsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; a+ H, j& V3 I, t+ ~divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
5 m8 L: _* g0 c% g( R4 ?' [6 ]& jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
4 u9 C2 b0 y8 O! q! V+ _a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 \3 H) K/ D0 R# Rcharge the fee defined by the state.
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$ Z# F9 v' ?- ?There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' q1 s h1 U" l9 _on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
% ]( {% h# n& zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big: R: L r4 V. T' N3 I1 A5 U
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 Z3 N+ a; J4 `; l( M
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
2 H/ h: i2 n( x9 D0 Jworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% F' m0 R6 {1 J7 E
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) ?' ^ M; m6 J: d9 ^. H
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
8 p( _6 E( F+ Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# d" U3 J% t1 R( \8 J' V1 {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that. k+ z1 M0 o9 F
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want4 K. M1 D ~* {! G
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# ~) g% Q+ [( z# {buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
( n/ t+ H. {& t. e; R/ s0 ^. rare spaces./ v& _6 [& [ y% ^
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
* V; \6 B- d+ A$ S7 K' _( Cto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 G) d h3 d$ X
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, B; {5 G/ t3 A" O40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* t) d1 e% ?6 P' B
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
) i4 G# q- Q7 }. k1 i: M$ ?& gbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 I; ^' q0 i9 J8 u+ X- L7 y2 {4 R! onice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of. u/ K% N. x! w" P: C7 Y- W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& y1 s0 H0 k- s& L9 K
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ L. C7 ?! d$ {" Z; M+ y* E. k We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
