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- @# @2 j, Q, y0 b$ J6 g
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
3 E4 p( M' U7 M# \6 A0 Con a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
! y3 |( o3 h; l+ Z. Y- C"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
+ n5 l5 y' n P2 \& q# j# f, |/ E5 ]answers to our pointed questions.* Y9 _8 k) |" p k
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 a' P3 [' y6 U$ e
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! P% _4 y1 n$ U7 Q0 N
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
1 p9 d1 l1 E. e/ c# Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams9 ?. C* r% m: @) m! B
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are1 M3 s6 |- X, T; D* _. B& {$ O
medical schools.2 M9 z5 K5 Y4 h
- o' o8 l+ _" q* R+ f H1 |Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the0 r+ `) Y3 W$ \6 H+ D: P5 a5 D& d( }6 V
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants! Q4 s2 U/ o- j: U- G- D) x
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 |; i" @* n% ^3 y- ?5 E8 A
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
/ `) i+ c4 |# y* v3 ris from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
$ R- Q% k9 S! Z2 Sover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 w: ?( o7 E0 Q( I' eseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# }& ?: u" o; L" L
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
t. J- {5 o# U! ?0 [6 Eshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
! V, [! Q- r3 M# [sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* F8 J' K, f+ e. H$ A6 s. K( r: S0 c
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% A# Q) V6 A* J4 R7 A5 x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( R1 [) l9 y, B* ]5 y. bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people4 o7 z3 v3 ~: e
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 l" u5 Q- }1 L0 q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby }% O- [7 ?/ K
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) n2 k$ y+ X5 a) N+ E$ kdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years. C8 `+ ?6 _. {/ Z$ d! b" R! ]. W
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When" ~' L# @+ U. n
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
( b5 x! a* {6 m" Y# t: [charge the fee defined by the state.7 z* W7 x9 t- q* Z3 m. Z
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
1 }+ X8 i$ R: J. }# x. mon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type& ^9 h- R% ~* ]' ~
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big4 j j2 \2 w$ K, a; s' x. h; x
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel% |0 `! r+ Y V C$ f: e# v0 \
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the$ J6 h5 ~/ o! v
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on3 H- b A& U8 e3 E
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. d) g- k, T% T3 G( u5 [
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
" p+ A0 f) N$ ? A5 z! mtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
7 ]5 n, E2 P v J/ Lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that7 p, q: G- U" n
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want7 p3 Q1 d! }' [% |" [) I3 h
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& w1 P5 X. y) v G# n! qbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
" l' J7 S+ Q/ Y. }are spaces.8 N3 i6 L; O5 ]+ e0 ~9 N: M7 Q, q* N
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi0 o7 F% `& o" @( ^) G1 }. m, p
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
, h- K+ \3 k4 ?own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the0 `' M! M/ A) P* w6 i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* e* ^1 z/ S9 z9 N8 _4 R( O
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
: Z1 t7 t( M! i/ Ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 t8 {( V7 |# e$ g" anice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of3 x3 L2 b8 C$ [# m+ A5 A5 ]
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it: I, \+ ?+ C% Q' M" Y4 G- a6 J
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
5 H5 p N$ g0 ?# `* O We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
