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
: ]$ `, h8 }! v# @2 n' Fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went) k3 U3 M* G0 ^: x& p- W
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ K& h4 I- K. W ?6 u1 a- W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give8 r" @7 p' R( q6 r7 h
answers to our pointed questions.8 B$ D2 K; \8 T% Y0 f# |
' [2 \0 n: L5 m9 F3 x, T' T% ]" vThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,; `8 F8 N! L- A2 Q* e, W
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: l6 h/ _8 M h: |out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. J, P# |" E, E9 H
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 p* l' Q9 o/ v1 qto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are9 w6 G6 U" l$ O+ g4 S/ U8 q: O
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the. G# i7 W& r Q4 [5 q
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
' T, k! b/ x; O- f% Z! X3 qto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
3 U# o: j/ i1 w N2 d Lassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: C! P, J: H6 Z* Z! V7 U( o
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 I& B* Q( _ v9 Fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
& ^. r# p6 B/ _& {1 |4 Vseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
u) b# u5 N% U p3 x! `1 cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ a, g6 O4 D& Z9 Z" D/ Wshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
/ k% `5 z1 K/ ]7 I V6 G8 Msugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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1 m+ s \6 e- t m2 ]2 c- yThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 J: D& U% K! h6 r6 h
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) V& i3 u/ G, l/ I' F; {
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 C$ J3 }6 w5 W% dhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
' @* M# { u+ b' @. o; d( k% sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
! G+ k: C/ V( @0 x6 Z& t4 Nsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 r O. |* [4 F! r& Y v$ O% Q: ]
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.6 K/ R' q3 P* \: X
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When* {# P0 q7 Y. b7 |: `7 C
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
& x0 y* |0 N1 e+ W5 r8 ?charge the fee defined by the state.
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* g+ Y2 w c, w! Q HThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get: |4 p U: r& h/ ^$ b) o0 m9 a9 ^. R! E
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
0 ~! j# u- C I8 H! Wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 X9 N; o$ c9 d- l9 ?: j
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
8 w$ m( e4 b9 Q' c7 w$ A+ cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- ]4 r y' V1 w& Nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on1 c& V, D2 ?$ A* t5 b% o% }! f1 u
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if% b* ^( B- Z9 r' Z$ b. }! F
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) Q- v2 _+ Y. E E4 U
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch2 S* N! s7 R" j: p
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ S7 [ I: p1 X0 r8 s! J! @# xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
, k$ L" S R! s4 c6 x$ S$ g- Nto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* p, w0 l* a" d. `; A' {) q+ a/ `buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there6 `+ @- C. y$ J1 N2 } x+ M6 _
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( Z/ I$ r, b" Y9 q
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they2 V' W2 `1 g: V$ _" o6 `" @3 @
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 Y: G5 g9 E! a$ }( ~
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ d9 t; E# d- r3 O- Mparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 r9 ` A* C+ R i) [9 c. v" Nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
% B) V8 e: a+ S, }% ~nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 ~0 Y0 V0 l8 A- |8 ]2 x5 W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( e& A e7 o! i1 his a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
$ @9 g/ E/ I% x$ P: C We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
