我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living5 g, W+ J+ u, S7 f7 @
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& q1 x% \' k) I$ ]1 V- {
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
; Z; M/ D2 _, _! e& i"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give. J9 l) C6 Y$ {8 I- f
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 X2 Z9 k; }( N
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. Y9 `! p' m3 K$ X- I' h! |5 i1 a
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is: U" d/ f1 F( X: B, f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams1 r. _* d1 o' @7 J& O A
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
; U( m# V# V" Emedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
; x' x$ ?% ~) ~7 F7 Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% f6 k' D4 D2 R4 t9 d! Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# s4 M; g$ f3 p- d3 \
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
/ @- a. {- H" w! C) N" ^- H! cis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to5 q1 Y+ Q$ F2 A4 o1 Z; y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
$ E$ ~" D6 p+ N% q! ?+ zseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
( I3 j# f7 j. ]: @7 q4 mmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk* C, L/ M7 t2 V* @
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ o; a3 N6 u& r' M' A5 N9 Z3 h* _sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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g- }: [4 Z+ R/ Q) qThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no8 o9 v) s$ r8 h& k8 A! ~& J7 ]
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! t d; u3 b# E# y
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' U$ F% p5 f* O3 g7 u& ?+ {
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
% ]9 d- A: A8 _' _5 l0 bthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 z4 D- U( c7 ?. J
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 n, u; K: K0 p+ c$ }' T
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 s1 s- y) L' j9 z+ D" ]8 }9 y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When, a4 G$ g& ?5 ] b2 K% N, h+ F
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
3 }' ?- f# t- X& [charge the fee defined by the state.% ]! `' T( W) \6 t# q1 N
8 Q' J! C( g9 c; _3 q1 v9 rThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% @8 v O8 y$ \& l) |- }- Z6 \on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type( E r* r! R& }" o2 u; @; _
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big9 q: I1 M I8 W% A1 Z( P2 o
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel. S9 b' D1 p# o7 P/ i+ H
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
/ c6 E1 A% Y- z, q. x8 s4 ]% zworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on0 p7 i- q `5 n, |$ E; _1 e1 G
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if! C- q7 Q2 C( I) ?% Y
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 R% l4 q2 O( h1 h6 a5 t% q& ], j, Q% n5 etrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
9 w0 b- r: z' J7 {& Fhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that6 }7 s1 K! ~3 \5 ~& {+ ?6 |3 E! J
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
: D _) R1 i' i$ }! J9 Y. dto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or' |/ r5 [, x9 D2 H. c
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
) v) [- L# b- u2 Z. t4 R* oare spaces.
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c# E* f q" J' M5 m5 V8 DThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ y8 \5 Z1 t8 H' E; [& }) Hto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they; b% a, |( i9 G) ~
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 {/ z* Q d8 u. M$ k @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ K2 U0 a% `: c# J' i
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
' |* T" w6 v, R% \6 kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
4 m$ U; M) n, d) E4 dnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
# y1 l. c$ \- fcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
2 ]7 Q G8 a" Mis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. Z7 ]3 {- g9 X E! x9 V3 k+ `
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
