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
: b: F& Y k1 `# `# Zstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( T/ Q. J2 [5 Y+ A/ |- P! M' y A
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
Q" b( @* k) `/ v0 d) _6 `- m"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; D2 J' n8 ?5 p% {( d- \9 w
answers to our pointed questions.
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' W K& M1 A AThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
$ Y+ c1 P; r; c. Z; f45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 _+ ?/ W9 ?, hout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is$ A2 I1 i4 n8 y9 B
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams6 ]9 V' y1 v$ R0 C6 J6 ?# O' @
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are( `% X [0 I- _
medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the6 M2 c/ A( W9 W7 N) B2 R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
# ?! Z; c5 A* {( f) X4 Ato go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
) E( r% o* w) s x+ ?* P# i# Zassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: K* r8 K& N- C
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. Y, A8 b5 R0 F9 T7 p& Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
4 c7 t! t J! E$ O/ j3 K$ Aseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
5 j$ X3 Y( a; d3 ], emostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
/ @ L0 [! E% N3 H* o/ J& Oshortage which the government is addressing by converting some5 ^% j, T8 ~4 @
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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& {7 {7 Q' B: F' \9 ~; }The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ n9 l9 P7 U' ~
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
7 l( q+ `) A P2 [3 }# rsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
# \: t2 d% U+ d* p+ B0 ?have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
0 z) }1 D/ N' o' o+ |% I4 Rthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
' [: R4 z" }4 V! Qsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" ^$ g1 m. s+ B9 R* Ydivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
+ [& y. h4 l( L- d q+ dDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* ^) ?& Y7 s/ k/ u3 ha lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
0 r5 ~7 |& l8 P& p" H1 |charge the fee defined by the state.4 [! n+ A* D, F6 m" ]+ o* n
: {0 { m8 `' b1 O8 PThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get% ]7 w; l5 t% E# d5 ^1 _
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 D& M ^7 z1 B) U4 M. f
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 }- K' y, \- @
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 p$ T" U: W! L1 y! O+ Vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the ?; _% e& x2 |2 `; M" q+ f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
# o2 W6 q& K* n( L/ B B7 Aschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if$ B3 U& `! ]0 i3 ]8 ?3 d
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
5 U7 {2 ?# G* y$ Z! {9 h2 d& Ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! Q# s8 ], y7 Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
$ Z( O0 Z: r! Z2 xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
- y4 ~& s3 ~, a6 ~: @$ d: B- ]to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or3 V* r1 v$ }5 u$ \
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
+ z, C0 I# m* R* L( T- d8 s9 Iare spaces.7 E3 Y# L2 b5 `8 `
$ I' C+ X, b0 m/ \3 |9 O3 vThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
p& y, u/ d0 B, K) kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they& L+ m. l7 R8 S5 I* U
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* ~9 {' |4 [$ N) {7 w. i
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
7 T' Z7 a; h8 H& w/ E; F! Q% Eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the9 g0 U" e, T& d+ c- c
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 P( \5 [% j3 P ]nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
) D# l" l; E B9 x" Scar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
: w8 A$ k: {% y$ ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.1 ] a% x5 B: ` q8 ]
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
