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% P8 N Y) I6 h
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went0 t7 h8 _6 ]1 v/ m& E
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 p; }0 m/ E- t4 F"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
6 h0 ~, B- w( H& D% e( i- fanswers to our pointed questions.0 H" i% v" ~ ?" N
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: r2 X0 T' d) B1 z+ ^4 d# x7 ^
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 Y( A- J+ | g5 N4 V! eout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is! N& c2 p) Y0 ?$ E6 Z' C! y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
* r( m; `6 H3 k) kto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
9 u# Q8 T* k& X3 B+ T& \medical schools.
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7 L; q0 M" M7 h" {$ k& W& hEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
3 x7 n9 \2 L- k9 v6 Ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
/ f: F. s' K1 U; P' bto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# _& Z) G4 W) [0 Gassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' g2 u1 `# N! L. S% j- u4 ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to- Q. }9 i; M. Y9 g9 A5 k0 u
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 Q' E( E7 H& d u0 v7 wseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and7 M+ \' a% Z2 p' h* H
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ }- h/ \5 h8 |: [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- f9 G+ Z# D3 ?; e! ?4 {: i
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ g# R6 e' s4 ^6 J8 E1 O( T
$ ^: N- w& U- W2 JThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no0 n' _9 J6 H2 M8 U+ O0 }3 N8 K
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 a: F1 ~+ Z# I2 N% b8 ?6 ^. S5 Dsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
8 U" X+ z+ |5 w4 V8 shave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
U H# X2 l; u$ sthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: ~2 T. \* P- G* Csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
5 T7 n: ^& }; ^$ P% Y f f6 {divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
9 Y" n' O/ d, a% \$ MDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
2 r4 J( s5 y* Y7 T6 j5 }# xa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only5 W0 [4 Y* f! Z& e6 z! A8 Z$ T. }, w
charge the fee defined by the state.2 v6 a% x! z) @! t7 A! B
3 X( k1 N0 [' h3 }- s5 [There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get8 W* O) a) T1 S. R2 ^
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 O v7 G) G( h) p# |% R* ?8 Iof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ H' { T; c: G+ \) Rtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
# V+ U" L* _+ t) e# Dseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 V& v3 Y% }0 G/ h" { ?3 ~4 [working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
2 a+ `; A6 I% S) e7 x& t$ hschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) I* L Z3 e, v# ]+ D( G: \you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
1 O* X) M( O' c! f6 a: gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch+ e4 h& T1 y' y$ \# N: i* `% ^
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
: v( D9 S* g+ V: G8 Gpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. s- p; B0 c* {$ ]
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
$ J' h& [8 y/ kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there v) g9 k6 n, D# q5 L& `
are spaces.
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6 F U( a7 V* |- oThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi: N7 z" M F. @
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 F' {( {1 W. s% T( N* V
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
' {5 g# h" p2 v" \' g2 N* b40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- i2 q, ]! M/ f& ~! x9 q) L; @3 wparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
5 m& L+ w8 U9 {2 Mbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ e4 L( \+ L; l* d3 V6 D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 U5 h" S* V* q: A
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
# I5 P% Y2 M0 O1 g+ xis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 L* }, u- o7 F2 f( A, h We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
