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
9 S! ]) W! g0 V( E1 hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
) W. L, z v6 V7 q$ uon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& o# i$ i) B+ q" H( W4 ?) i
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give, E6 F/ ?* F- j* x& ~: z) v
answers to our pointed questions.( S" p+ f5 F* [% X- s0 { D! {
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 V: D8 |! }% z! J: J45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand% K" d/ { K8 ?4 R; L1 C8 x% l
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
4 {6 ?) O# n9 j i2 Y+ u6 P$ Rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams0 U& ^% D# h) l$ R
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" S# b* u5 _ V3 [( u
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* v' s! c, y; J% F4 J2 p
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; j! Z# \( ?( P0 ~; N( Mto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. p" u" q& q7 c2 F" i
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" s, |9 ^6 v+ K, U2 W$ Jis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% w8 |5 H# K" M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There4 i- B' U c5 Z
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and: p& d( d; G1 W* Y
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
, f0 d0 g" \- M0 w% ` Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some$ D4 L0 W5 ~* O; w( m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# D9 a. Y+ f7 R9 b: J# S
- z5 N7 N8 C1 J7 ]$ n4 \; Y- b X& tThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
7 m! V. @& I) W8 f3 pprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
+ x0 \( v$ O! c1 Asupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( n+ @$ T7 q7 l* fhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
" q& B' D- z8 Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 O6 F$ F( ?) a: v- esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high) S4 m8 g6 f, A# c# i# M b
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
; {1 e6 s" `$ K8 m6 v7 s* a: ADivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
5 b1 N3 m7 l" K6 \8 j1 la lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
$ a, _5 l7 d: ]" i" c0 vcharge the fee defined by the state.' f/ |% i! N5 V7 b. S% e: S
6 }' J& D- F" m: N0 f2 DThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
, C; u- V1 E0 e* h3 Fon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 R+ M% M- L# T/ c5 M; @' N8 f* |
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; U2 P x/ l. V, T9 ]/ xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
u/ n3 y$ f- `5 Bseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' j0 M3 N5 c3 g4 C0 Q0 O
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 _6 a# U% X+ D1 R1 d
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if; E$ s; s3 X7 ?7 i( V) u
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
' l6 v2 R! O8 n8 v& z0 Q& z. jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: }3 p7 F V* y- C5 }, T/ F4 h& y9 xhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ N. U% w8 U2 ]: j1 upeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want S- L4 M! i3 m" [# M' b
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
/ [+ Q9 J' t9 Q* P J& m. Rbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; r% G) n' I! y* { C w
are spaces.
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# r6 Z; Y8 e& K6 ] S2 @7 F- W' cThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, q Z6 l% n! A. s
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they" B3 _- h& M. P. R
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' H: O3 u9 W) N5 n% r0 H40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' F/ D2 ]5 Y8 H# |- k/ L* C
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the3 f K) @9 Q, ]; P2 W$ ~) j( n
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few" h4 W$ U0 a& J: g x" G4 h; |9 Q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 X. j( M) T) c4 _9 m
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it; v' X% M5 \2 Q* x8 k+ X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.+ M( F! c4 }$ |2 c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
