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# O3 H3 ^standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went H$ R3 I3 y2 n6 x
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& ~ x: @4 v5 C+ m) E# d) c"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& }( U$ ?% {5 r: g
answers to our pointed questions.9 O* [% _7 s! Q) l9 D
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,5 E5 ]; R: L1 l' q1 V
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ p! @7 ?- ~ R) m+ ]- U7 Cout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is) ~+ c7 T9 \8 ~6 D: f# E$ [
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ O& O3 v4 e7 E" X. @. ~to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are @9 m- K$ }8 [8 e, t, o6 k" ]
medical schools.5 D4 m3 P! ^6 h" @
' X m$ \, ]5 O1 g% b. I6 v9 m( PEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! m% ]3 b- a5 Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants% N p: z9 l. l7 F v7 s
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
$ T3 H9 l$ L! L8 S* ?assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& y* B; p$ e. @& V- w ~( O$ wis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
3 ?( ]! m( Y6 S2 Y9 Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There5 \( {+ H) I S1 T9 J" m- }8 H
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# L& N6 ?( i5 W# u
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk+ l1 Z" [+ q5 `& E! G' b7 R1 ` }
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some! l9 A7 k3 N9 |5 W
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.2 v& U5 n8 C3 S9 n
, T" S) V O- a8 B$ EThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
" U& g. R- q- |! l. zprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ ^ P1 x. c& _1 T, g }8 Usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ ]9 q: t& S% P) Bhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) R) \8 `6 {! z# L/ O' g. _7 f# R
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 l* s- @5 F* I+ g, esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high! a: u f+ l5 h" k; h; C7 l
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
! H! M: \8 A$ K, g. z3 hDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 ?, q7 i/ F" `) U [2 Ra lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only' h- Z2 z6 A2 \2 W& d
charge the fee defined by the state.; V1 [1 R6 \( a
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; |) E$ R& \+ M8 [. y% |
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type$ u/ h% Q3 Q3 I/ C8 n8 k( z& n2 u
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big$ ]1 f( N5 u" W
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel ]# `) E0 x. ], r+ u
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the5 W0 A, D# `3 v2 w
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
' f' N* O" P* n* C z }schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 Z/ w9 w+ E5 S, h* j
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 F( g7 ?& d. l0 T* `5 m' etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: O0 x( y' i5 i6 c* v: D9 `) K. chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that* T& l! W) M( n( k) B. ^' A- H- @
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want; ?0 x0 v8 I- o. A% B! d5 Q0 l5 j
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
- \ F4 T! ]$ Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 J5 m, N4 ^1 G7 @7 rare spaces.0 u, n' s- Q. }- S; P& F
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# W) u0 p$ l+ \$ O4 w3 ato make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( e& P- i" b' |* ?/ W5 ]own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the' c2 ^5 |- ~: k5 @( r( A
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different1 i" y7 {+ C! \7 _# T
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
* D, N/ | p0 U* A, z1 ?best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 w5 |3 I0 o9 }& X1 {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ j# u) ?3 t. l$ e
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 G( ~: T. y n0 X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
2 U) O; |1 a1 x+ Y7 E* ]% F. ] We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
