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
( Y& H- Z) R# A, e4 }standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 Z% u4 T/ p7 w0 I1 J- yon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide," P: a% Y0 ]2 k( R' [; m" L
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ t( B" p* O7 r1 B+ r
answers to our pointed questions.. I* O2 o) v& G" f8 N
. K1 [8 e/ f' XThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
+ t* N1 y' X% S; u45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand3 g) S M7 [2 Y9 K
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is7 ?/ l6 C* w$ R' V8 [% }; Z
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams+ L, `7 ?, [- {, d8 V
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
" g) v1 s |2 p% s" ^, qmedical schools.
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; L0 U+ ~! H7 v, `# g5 ]1 |6 y7 AEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the+ F5 c% C* c% _7 [
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants- q6 P$ S+ |6 R
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years J4 p% K4 l& H" U' J
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. C# e5 s) q; a" n6 J- {: |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
H* ^& f) w1 fover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There! _) \8 | H5 }8 R7 q* t
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and# m* j( J8 ]+ R+ x0 n
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk8 p; p8 b, B* [4 y' S+ [& G6 A
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some- }) k1 a' n0 p( h+ X" }( r" t
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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) H5 |0 c% ^- e* | X) @0 u. fThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no$ Z" r/ b: P0 m) k
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
3 ~9 K" L! r/ s0 _& J* q Bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
' x. Y7 R4 M, F9 u K. ?have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good# q) y' A1 q- m8 m2 U$ {$ B
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
3 t% f3 e2 |3 |0 N2 a% }9 W. gsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high5 d: o! M/ r3 e2 Z8 C2 O6 i
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.4 W" q; I6 j' G8 q7 k' Q
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
q/ s; W( p, s# x$ l* Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
6 }6 n9 ]- Q; O* g& Mcharge the fee defined by the state.
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$ F% t; _0 l! j. T5 P- y! ~5 W: WThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
6 j/ M& @( E. U! j1 eon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. Y6 G/ H/ T/ B$ ` aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
+ K, D4 D# e* O" P4 s% @& P/ z) |9 Mtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel9 |" V: K& j) l; Z; q' o7 W
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the) B6 ]' r: y6 N o7 X9 b
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on4 ?; @- z G. t# Q3 a& N" N8 g/ R2 w
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
' K5 d3 c* U( v( L8 [0 Cyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; u7 v2 u/ t* g H9 ?6 ptrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch6 P0 `( T9 F3 l4 j
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that2 `. Q1 G- v1 ^
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
! W8 |) z6 O! G; H' O9 B6 hto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# v. C" K- E2 _' l" Ibuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
/ y, g9 p1 \- ^2 Q l$ u+ ware spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
+ W9 \$ h) Q3 a# M Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they5 w7 e4 h+ `2 c* e! \# t
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
Z2 i+ F& P6 L! n40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* ?7 H/ O" S; p7 x3 [0 F5 Kparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the) B3 G$ ~, K: ^6 V
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
; c& e7 j1 A- `! o$ u" gnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
3 z4 m& T: C+ {% J6 o! |+ g0 Z( dcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it% m: h1 u( _- P W- P" ?: Z
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
( Y7 Y. U1 I: ` We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
