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
; C- T* }3 {8 k) p: Ustandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
2 Z- S4 \% z$ _6 }7 ?' Mon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
% ^2 @( s, Q L4 J0 G"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 ^$ W" ~/ }! r* c1 u5 u
answers to our pointed questions.) Z' B7 O* {4 l9 R# j
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
0 _. P0 n8 l+ H, c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
) J1 f0 l0 I. t" ]7 d9 ?out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; w/ `0 }7 Y5 H+ |4 X- W1 I$ Hfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams2 N5 U7 i' }; u1 K6 t+ s
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" m* M9 L( s. E) M6 J) l
medical schools.* W U3 k3 q1 `7 g& \3 E+ C" O
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the" a( b; B+ X, R2 N" v% d# q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants7 W9 J, q Q, O
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ A6 ^; I5 D6 [- oassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ g6 g5 L9 E3 Yis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to0 E( Z" x6 h; x7 v' F7 X# w
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# P: e- M1 e, J! z% L7 z$ |seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
9 G b3 ^" p) O6 cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk0 ^! j4 N Z) X n" x8 e+ g4 Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 ?6 V. s4 h* H
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.$ Q+ [* A9 `" [# @, E' H7 b% B
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no" x1 ?. R7 k+ u6 \
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and5 i C8 r/ w4 C
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) G# m$ m y p
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- Z2 D7 C' ]: l. J9 f
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
4 X$ d9 u8 [! Gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, R7 t' {* g% A2 P3 `; f1 Wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. s) h/ i: K. K$ b; S( v% g- p
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* c3 @; |( o- \ b8 G) h& K) pa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 r: T& k0 d# M2 }7 Lcharge the fee defined by the state.- P) k I# x+ }+ e# Q3 m
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* \7 W) v% P% A# non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type* j5 q/ @" E) P. ^8 A" }
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ l* d! O5 j7 w- i, _5 i7 s; \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 `, Z" f* ^; y7 O& V x4 C
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
: n" a) [! k# J" ^+ Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
* w4 n2 n6 x# N. N# @2 V! Oschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
! m4 {% _ a F' iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
X% h' e. ^" d8 qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
- ^( I: l. {" q5 s' vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
0 H) m5 H* K" ?6 |- dpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want9 A* E2 ]1 }+ O6 I& H z
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! o7 ?) X) d; U" m) k' J' \buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there0 V& J$ x* F4 x1 p- i
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
: c: E1 ?+ Q3 z$ w! F; F0 U0 Uto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 f5 x. x* V! K, X4 A6 ~7 e# {2 \
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the8 G7 Q; A# ], R6 D. `; k
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, w% K0 h8 {% |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
4 w- y& i5 X- d) x4 F) Jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few8 I t, `: S0 R" o6 C
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 x$ ~. N+ l$ O, c7 q+ m) F Ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it* P* P: [7 `# w1 |8 h
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.8 v e2 T$ Q* f' D0 i
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
