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) u, [' x7 wstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went. [) `, ^4 e3 X* T1 L
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
& A; A+ X( Y1 G( l0 [2 w3 x4 N"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 G7 R3 s$ [/ c0 r6 U: v8 f4 W' K5 r
answers to our pointed questions.
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% K9 N$ J+ h& hThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& i4 x3 f5 S9 m. _- |7 V
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
3 Y6 E# v; y! Qout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! ^+ @8 O5 P. _; }; d, ^
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ u' n6 e/ y+ r" C. vto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are c4 {6 i7 {8 q0 j* h: b
medical schools.$ W% I9 q! H( e7 {9 Y$ C
: R. f% ?# t. X1 f* nEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the* B3 Y8 |3 O# L6 L5 B" Y
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants* {1 P% g# ?3 n5 q+ [2 g0 u
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years2 ?: i3 h( y2 D' D! i
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba; W K& Y3 w! r. }+ |. \3 e
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
l; O/ o. i dover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 v( Q# J+ t' a5 z) l3 G1 h) \seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
1 H# b9 E1 J; E" Amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk. H: t5 g4 O% R% Y
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some* v: w7 V3 x3 |' O9 [& ?* w
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.9 j! m$ J0 R# L$ \' L
* Z6 U% C) n8 z+ e4 O/ r. GThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no( g. H. p4 { O2 d1 k; C* ?/ `
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
" j. g7 K0 ]- W/ Z2 l1 m* `supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) j4 B+ P6 M4 o
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good, }+ V. Z% u+ F2 c
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
& t6 V1 ?% \# O1 ]5 ositting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 ]) Z8 f+ b) T a# {) f
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
/ t+ T. H" f( ?( V8 SDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When# X* [" z+ p0 L/ X
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only1 c( L+ I0 G0 U- M
charge the fee defined by the state.3 k+ ?8 z5 y- `6 Y9 i) e
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* S; e" f" _# a3 A8 r8 X
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' A9 o! w, U* V% c; e$ B$ M
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ o9 m) |( t3 e3 f4 U7 Xtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ E# K& s3 t# \6 W: Q4 M$ e7 |seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
9 Q2 e2 A5 K6 e: W. p8 Sworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& ?/ \) Z$ I8 x5 H# y8 D$ w: t3 W @9 q. xschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if5 U* R* B- k* H1 l3 s- z/ N
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% p% v1 ~% w& Y
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch- q. g3 A1 R( V4 T* Y% v- H
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that" t$ A( q1 {! `/ a3 B4 c
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ K$ a+ ~2 Y3 d+ s. F5 ?7 X$ i/ p
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 V; K3 S+ k- L0 |1 e! e2 Zbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 }: Z/ |& c/ ~* M Fare spaces.. E; H0 Y3 i3 Q* u: D( A3 b! D
! d( m: J- W9 z3 w+ r) B! wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
7 S4 O5 q) J( Q5 I" }/ J% @to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 n) K& _1 Z( o( N- Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 y% E/ N4 b3 ]) n3 e5 j( A5 Q40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different4 S3 P9 @; H3 U
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
& t2 V# x& _6 Rbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
: @9 Q: _, H# m* [3 T6 [nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
$ K# G% d6 H* A) y) P3 lcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 ?' E7 v; M1 N x( ~" H- E( m O4 W! kis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
* M, c$ l% y* t5 I9 m We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
