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
" y: J) z' Q9 Astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
8 G7 U* e; L/ R& I0 Z& W* non a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# E4 w* C4 o! T"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give9 g6 W. _% M$ m3 _2 P2 |$ Q7 f
answers to our pointed questions.
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' `+ a! i; f3 _( ]The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black," C+ `0 s9 W8 F9 B4 C
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ d4 g6 e0 s" M. ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is9 G3 u4 k7 Y0 i, i5 U
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
$ x" k2 T9 A0 Bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
5 j, Z+ r& A% Zmedical schools. [+ p0 [; ^7 G. P
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
+ C" F/ V: j$ m& v3 F) s3 H3 |government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants4 W" m+ C [1 \9 ]4 y! z
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years* y, ?+ m) h7 b( [4 U
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
+ m; y" v; e3 Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
- R% f" X [& S4 O7 i* oover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 c" m3 P0 I( i: t! J$ S( Dseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and f4 s& M: Q& s- ]0 @" h& R1 B
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
" U0 M# Z! c# zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
9 M( h6 l1 x ^sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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( j* g# l5 a3 J) L! e5 V' Z* HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
2 N! i8 w8 R7 f/ Mprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
' C: U. i H, {3 N5 W5 U6 y( isupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( M" N9 ?) o$ `8 e: Xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, `1 w6 G2 `- H5 t+ wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby( L3 L( j' g/ ?. C
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high/ f* ~9 v4 K' [, }6 {: b1 ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ g i1 {3 ]9 a2 R3 v: C! L1 ]9 N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When2 g, T/ r! x* a
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only! D( _/ j5 ]5 t$ m. `2 ~3 f" D( ?
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* o4 ]9 N* ^8 `, }on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 K C8 c& |& v! Z$ ~; a- J" Lof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% R0 t; s9 z b
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 u) j3 X( V8 I# A z7 i
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- l; B1 j% d1 P" j# b8 L
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" Q6 _' i; ?3 Q1 g6 i' X# rschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if) F: [+ w* w$ S/ {' G( W) A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people: X6 o; E1 S- Q4 }
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch" Z9 ?1 m8 m- d& ?: L* y
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
9 d3 `9 C$ p' C; s0 P# Q- Zpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
1 i2 k; }0 e9 ~- ato go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or* O0 A! {2 R# P5 p
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
h) d; A8 ?6 }& y4 Aare spaces./ H9 ^: v" k* v" a( h; e: R) H
( M6 [ s2 X/ ~; d SThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi* F1 F% N& _% P9 Y- U2 j2 y
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( ]' j; @2 O {* |3 B3 r2 Iown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
$ t2 F3 e9 w, r% t; e& n2 R# @* q, F40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different% z/ [+ ^( O3 L, y/ |; c
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
. o6 W* J% g6 \! T$ x& R) w }best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 P# w+ f' X" A3 b, |
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
% a7 n: a. b0 y: P2 m% Z9 Rcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) q- I' o; |5 P
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 ]% a3 S% w% `+ x u We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
