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
3 |* |7 `2 d( X- u* Rstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went1 h& p# b& O/ q+ A6 f; U7 b1 z
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# n3 x* a, o9 {, P) ~6 C; W"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! L3 O: c7 }* i$ Lanswers to our pointed questions.
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( r9 `; P6 E; D; i0 uThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" D9 \0 N9 f$ s! D$ L u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
1 k5 @- B2 L' O0 Oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is4 v; d& k$ t& x0 `0 y; ] V& d
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; {8 j1 `* Y6 Sto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
8 s" m7 s! {3 c6 ^medical schools.4 `. J9 G0 q: A: r2 q! p; Q
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the7 n' r+ e) l! g" u
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- c* U! N6 V! qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years- v' N9 {* Q. S. |6 W7 G
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
6 R4 i/ Q+ w$ n# his from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
: t! y( m( C& @, Z( b p+ w# S, qover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! N4 t0 O0 y+ A O4 c) S& a7 }, @
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and; }" A( y% ]) P4 M6 T1 c! q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk! f# P' V/ J# T, u! C1 Z
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 D8 I6 g, V2 W# F% xsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.! \. S5 h9 p# i
6 d* z0 {& B' \( p: E9 lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ m# X' D9 }6 X; V) p
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and# H" J6 W9 u7 h. m: z8 M7 V
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people3 j( n: _$ P7 e3 d- @
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good- q! E* X% D% V- M
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: _; H$ M5 u# w0 t6 b5 ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
@( W8 U- c, G M7 Mdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years." J7 {9 _8 z/ Q- v% x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When- j' r6 k# L0 c M- T. F; x
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only* L5 Y* j6 i# B+ e4 `
charge the fee defined by the state.* w& ^' l) Y* [; Z. s
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% o6 }7 H4 D# K) {) g- z: g
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 l" Z8 M. @5 f: u% Xof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 h e( F6 I# Y( ?3 q0 b# p5 d2 J
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
5 v, o, d) Q2 w5 b! kseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 T1 q: K$ e4 C( B/ ?2 `working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: @4 `" o/ g0 l
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if3 a, n4 k" A' m0 T
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 \; f3 {6 W* r$ F! Htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch1 k; ^ J2 p. ~2 @1 Y+ m7 F
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 d/ e$ X& g" y2 ~+ B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want3 ?$ m8 [9 p5 l0 `. x" f
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
9 i/ e [, n& Q+ D5 Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there/ x3 z- T, e* T0 F
are spaces./ w4 ~6 p0 L( @! Q; A) f: u
' K$ N( f! [7 u9 n0 PThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
% D# @* _' E# p" v5 ?to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 f$ W/ p6 k4 F& ~' X( p# `
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
4 y8 l) \. y; a6 V# H' N- S40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different: I6 l* [5 x4 ~% r
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
Z1 w: l F! i1 L( Ibest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
' b0 j* h) j2 E5 \9 Z9 q! z1 {1 qnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
+ x: o w+ D3 {$ t& h0 Wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
- p3 T! h& b7 }4 b) B7 T. Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 }* e3 \3 e- l& E* x. s+ p( u- ^8 L
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
