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) m; Q U- P @; m+ ~% p
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went$ ]' u6 G# f/ i
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 [7 N1 s# w& Y"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
: J9 J* V) J& Banswers to our pointed questions.; L$ \' Y9 A) E: c
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
/ |# @0 Y0 x/ S3 m0 ?9 v, Z45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand: a4 r/ P" U. W7 h! Q0 T" F/ d
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is, Q9 [$ f6 ]' r1 k9 A; i) t& G
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ {. f2 o, B' b/ U
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are4 u3 ?0 X4 h3 k: Q% s$ X: J
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the( r5 d: A; [9 H3 U5 t7 @' A- ?
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
+ z. h2 r4 A Rto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years3 C- g! D& p8 t4 [! m* `5 k
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
" o1 d( g3 _1 W) mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
4 C. \9 U& m1 \7 J% E9 X( ^over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There* e5 ^+ o' L7 i: C1 T% K
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" B+ P5 W/ j1 h* {) |mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 T+ `; q5 @$ N) c' g/ L! Zshortage which the government is addressing by converting some) }+ ^1 f4 Y) c o+ W7 [" ~" k O- n
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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1 ^$ [0 a- C) S8 |) [2 YThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
/ z. n% q! _; Fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 q- H- h" V/ H* j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people' k5 e! W& C2 ~( M% W1 i
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good7 g) i. P. w6 S0 w% i
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 t" ~1 V! V5 `# Esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ d0 u% G5 x5 { d8 g0 tdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.& W9 W Q# a" w7 x: _0 a/ j# i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
% a) T4 j+ R, k5 {a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
2 X1 j1 U+ L# x% z% Echarge the fee defined by the state.6 f- ^% z* e4 B; R. ]
) {7 K; f* U( c" W( F# H; z9 yThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
: H* Y5 s2 F. K5 _: A$ p0 Hon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ G5 i3 h; {5 G0 g3 e5 C' n6 ` kof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big; {: J8 l& m1 v) y, K2 i
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
0 C3 J, ?6 S% a t$ T; K0 Aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
3 w/ J" |$ V2 t0 o; H# t3 P: ]working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on) C: x* z5 J- \6 B9 g6 M
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 U4 I* F K' C$ n8 } B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people) ^# \1 m* c3 R# l: u) O
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& T) F0 w E7 e: zhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 u. ]6 Z7 l/ X8 v9 @
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want+ i+ [ x F7 Q5 B/ r2 C7 u# }
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or7 S9 _! |! X$ j
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
Z3 p, e2 u: w3 z; ?are spaces." b) U) G, Y. n( r4 Y. c' |9 i1 q
5 j) ^8 N; q. Z+ \6 `, F# mThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi" D( B2 D+ s2 H6 Q) G
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they W$ U* ]# ?+ g8 Z: ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 j- \* ~& d- Z5 O40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
]$ m9 {4 i: P# Y5 L8 Hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the1 Y7 N8 N, i0 E" d/ s4 {; v! j2 \- O
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 t. [1 {6 W1 _$ n- {
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
" t" I$ r9 _# e! Ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 C* e4 E% I1 S, d5 |# Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.. O9 Z2 b# N' I# J* W; H+ A) x7 D% S
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
