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- a j1 E' L+ l! z/ A- n F0 ^ K
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went! X" Y! ^: y( V" g; m5 E
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,/ V3 N& o+ Q) I6 N) M! W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give/ h8 N( h) t% y' e
answers to our pointed questions.) ]2 M7 [2 ]7 L J" F. y
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,0 V9 D) H- q& z8 e1 W# e X n9 E9 L
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand6 m! G/ @+ |; J3 x, C& o- z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is6 x- V2 v! D9 Q7 F7 s8 R6 {- P0 O
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" b( ]' n+ G$ s& [
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: U$ S8 N% h2 {' m8 y9 Xmedical schools.2 U: T. y/ J6 e% d. r* q
! R. I/ ?: [# g& a7 X$ L3 Z9 UEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the9 D+ l. `' Q/ U+ }! @
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants8 X9 Z! n/ N J% p/ [
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years9 m4 {. }6 T$ k( l+ U2 V# t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba- B& Z% Z0 r0 Q& ^1 W6 Z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
' ]8 A: T, f" {( a0 ^( `" @4 mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There O* w, q- K, Y# T
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and6 x# w, `# [- Q
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk: W1 \3 I; _( e I/ H
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some: `$ E' F' E8 _3 _7 ^
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 L- V+ |! p w5 P; c' R; K% ? v/ [
8 _; V9 y9 q& z% @The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no- I. M6 ^! l5 ~! j5 |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and) M& o" y/ B. z( A
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
5 d. f$ P/ b( q8 l6 f& }4 U3 r5 ?have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, U7 b, D+ ?- Q. H/ h4 _8 pthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 z; x: g5 E- Tsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& @" H- F3 J/ O) ]( |divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
$ c5 `% Z& m* o( t- J) c/ N7 Z) ]Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When8 \) i% q1 J+ }" ?9 w% y- R
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only& F. w; F+ T; ~* G! d
charge the fee defined by the state.$ m8 ~& a; U4 _9 j
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get0 v* [6 n+ C- ]
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! _$ Y5 o' K( D# D" C; Zof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big% b$ O' Y" t8 t& H. W0 m
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 O; ~$ ^8 i8 w+ O1 Pseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; |1 |2 M6 n0 _5 m# d3 a" G) G+ I! j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
- g1 g3 L8 b; |% P0 g% yschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
- x! A1 Q8 `* p- j+ c2 Q G! A& dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people! Y& o* a, A; P5 m g' m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
2 r" `; ^7 i( N' X. r! N$ p+ Dhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 D* U0 D. A6 l1 j9 R) i, k) Z0 o& O
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# r" V/ Y3 ^: k% C ~' Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
" ?) o' |, e `3 v/ Tbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; P' V1 C, V3 h8 S2 vare spaces.
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n3 L5 x6 a. D9 \There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
) S, `, I. P. G. Oto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 ?7 f+ _- N6 N: w+ l6 h. Eown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 a" I. u# _. y; b40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different; a" i5 p4 e' I- H
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the' Q5 g5 a+ S6 w2 z$ K3 B3 ?. q2 C
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few* i' U6 ]" l1 X
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of# W+ r" k8 c& d4 ?0 H# E) g7 {
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
) B S; [4 d. jis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.5 j6 R' V7 n7 v' c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
