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
3 A0 ]( C/ S- t) b; O% K lstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
6 `) B- ]4 A+ H7 ?2 R% f6 Hon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- ]* a9 _# I! y# c: i"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" a9 k6 T% k) U4 m/ W9 e& ?
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
2 g& h8 y ]* O6 u/ g2 o45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
: s$ @% `+ X3 _! fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
: n4 v4 K! m; }0 m0 E' sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams; p. y; {' E1 f& B! _) G% ~
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' i' e7 W* a2 p" v5 i7 O
medical schools.
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* m- c0 w" y0 ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the) m4 M2 a( F) _7 V$ E( h8 L. T9 H
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
4 D1 s6 y4 x* w. Fto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years( V1 _+ Q2 M$ ]
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
5 ~# p! q x+ sis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) y; [4 K2 r/ j- I& R% g# S
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ x3 O2 I. `) bseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
! l" D H7 A# ?# [0 q& Emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
$ |( N2 l, }- j: b- Ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some
1 [. _$ s3 f' _, X2 @8 u3 j6 g3 ^sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ G$ }9 {5 l% ~& Q3 A8 J" u8 dThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
1 G4 H+ M* {! o, N/ D3 L/ gprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and( G/ t; L- m* F: y# x/ m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people$ [" {8 T t o
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 k* h- i, I `* q5 X# A1 fthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. Z0 Y8 m, f, j& N- Z
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& R' |6 F/ L' n idivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 I! P# l. z' K# Q/ U8 eDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* F1 @8 f8 P& U- U" O$ Z, f6 U* d; ^a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
8 `6 U* @# q! n4 y/ ]- ycharge the fee defined by the state.2 [/ A* ~9 p; s" Z
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get* u1 w0 x# `7 Q* W' y F; i: |- y0 j
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
9 x2 p- e/ N% \; L& tof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
6 O, a& Z( |2 y* ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel$ e0 w- Y" _" W$ u1 J. p9 p
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ w8 ?* a7 w1 h" t, i
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% z# [# Z+ @2 j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
7 M7 H- R- e; t, h2 B' h9 `" ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 y8 D2 B- b8 e% v* _+ N# ~; Y9 A
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 Q% Z/ N$ d2 X7 I+ ~+ j4 E& Q
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that3 U6 ^) ]7 j N' U$ g2 L
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
4 h( Q* e, f4 z8 I3 Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 Q0 h7 L" S% o" O* Q7 W vbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
6 w3 K1 z0 P6 _! C) o1 ?are spaces. R+ ?6 H2 W, L- o
. }0 r6 O7 r9 J& [There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi( L( d) R" ]5 o( M, M
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
7 {) i4 o) I$ f3 P+ _( Jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the5 S) r4 s, f! @3 S4 w, A& k0 b ^
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
2 ~1 I1 U( e1 |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 d( q5 H& Z+ @$ Z$ b0 u+ Jbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 i) Y8 r) _' `4 U( `, v3 \$ Z7 H# U+ v0 E
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- ]9 O7 n% d) k8 X
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: d [6 S$ O) E& y; t2 [0 Y
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
6 }. Q3 O* Z* L We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
