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" y$ @" m- [
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went# k* J" c. V$ s: B9 v' B6 H, H/ F. ^
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& s; v4 G9 p4 ]& B. t"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" Z* k) ~5 d% a. n) h i1 i
answers to our pointed questions.6 e7 Q! A% v' D1 L h( n
0 y, L% L( G; M7 o7 r$ R: e) z9 R
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
5 c" ? u3 k* V' i4 c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
/ |& ^% E6 {, T/ K9 lout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ m/ v7 `! j0 |0 a w
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ o5 d" y2 L& T( r: Hto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ M8 B' L& z6 n8 h& S+ _medical schools.6 O5 h n. n( v0 z) ^
" u, q5 I$ q) f6 |8 T* t6 g7 O
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
" H& _8 {# ?3 }2 p! Dgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 l0 n$ S* T( p' J
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years/ c) }; v$ E7 V% E
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 o, Q/ s' I# l$ Z/ E. `is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
0 @; X. A3 u2 c/ j% \: Y, ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There" h! { g3 n( w( t; ?' d$ ~5 f
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
- u5 o; r, w( e c% t Pmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& M/ V: ^/ `2 b, {* U: mshortage which the government is addressing by converting some- [& n" k, R7 M* A$ C& O/ @
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.. ]5 F' z, p0 e2 p2 T- {* a
, D; s$ i2 i% s5 B8 }, X
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
% a# Z2 ^" z0 O% E0 p2 U* ~6 o% H0 w Pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
/ Y7 f2 h! q) `7 l, ksupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
3 U- r3 h$ n% q/ O1 V p2 x& a. Phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
3 s" y/ Q l4 K' X2 _thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% U8 Z& j- U/ @1 i" {0 k2 {sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high+ V; D1 r; b9 ~& a \( e' F) I! U; A
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
7 I5 s1 P, w9 b. g) HDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When/ v! [* x' E9 s" z3 ^7 t
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
" M8 @( D$ f& o4 j* G0 e* a) gcharge the fee defined by the state.
7 J3 ^) r( N8 ?: q% @
! }4 a5 J, G, _) N g- w, g- NThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 q+ _8 Q; {2 X* @) i6 F7 non), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type: [8 R$ |. L6 ^; h6 K# \; ^: Y
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
. B2 ]7 F" B8 h: Dtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. w* e4 w0 g! M" V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the. q1 c8 z/ ?( a$ P3 x, L
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on' q2 `: _& D, j( e
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' x. F/ P; K& p9 Xyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people6 w: Z: ~" ]. ]# N& j4 \2 t" O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
* W+ e0 _1 c; Q3 G: I3 g- c! J; qhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that8 Y, b, i" q R3 L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' A% G# H: |; A q% {( |to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or, l7 ]/ Q: R$ Q# v/ X
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
: z4 D3 w. D: j- j7 \0 T+ Iare spaces.
5 y1 P$ Q: c: E3 W: H8 F) ~8 U, b v' s2 z, O- I9 R! x' T, y7 \
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' _3 D. j. h5 M4 J* e. {3 o6 p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
( o+ a: F; t; e# R; E) p2 _4 v3 j6 pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
: Z+ ~* t( L. |4 B( t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 ]4 n ]0 r/ Y, L
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ V( ?# ]+ _: o3 N2 x/ Vbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few6 I& }- q& `0 c0 [' U$ n6 }
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of) `: f3 K( }4 u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, E7 B% R/ A! ~! v x, P9 T/ X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.- |6 f! E- }- h% W, |
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
