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
r( |" r9 R- B, J4 `standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went( M" P. Q$ e5 k8 H1 }
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
- c: q) k- v4 o- C- h# ~8 u"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give& D7 M4 h' s- g; C
answers to our pointed questions.
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% ]) r, X( y- j* q, T* m2 |/ wThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
' D% A: L) S: j3 s$ c45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
4 W# l0 B4 G% ^/ tout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% G/ o& w! O" c7 b& e6 Q
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
5 C' i8 D1 x, _ ato get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are, `+ O' [9 y$ k( K9 I5 I0 ]- h
medical schools.( F9 H5 l# Z }! \5 B: H" l9 M/ i
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
2 ^4 s5 {. ~6 m3 Ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
2 d$ [$ B4 U8 I( hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
2 [8 r8 a: s% N! }assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
$ N# @9 Z% N% H) Y' Fis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% S" }$ Z& \/ U/ c2 j$ {6 Bover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
7 {1 m$ r _4 i* Oseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and3 R& T+ v3 N' Z+ _1 A
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
( E' {2 ^4 I1 L! y. ]% V2 yshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
% f% q) S1 P9 ]7 ]; Gsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.) q3 q6 l! M1 B2 |, V
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no! V& S O9 R) E+ D% |
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
$ K- Q! t3 X7 ]9 D4 \supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
- c5 L- \8 F+ F4 o* l; xhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
; e# r% T Y h% `& _4 c9 u. a) b: ?thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
9 r: W8 z9 U+ f/ k, }3 ~/ O6 {sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
3 `! o8 Z! V1 R7 ]- Jdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
[9 Y( m$ U8 R3 S: g; J6 ~Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
" Z- ?. q; L7 s: h3 G* Da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
+ o! q6 \' U3 y- M9 c0 Scharge the fee defined by the state.
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6 f0 N, [. {3 Q2 aThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
0 C! h" b. x; [+ Pon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type, m6 j4 i. r, a
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" {) [: \8 e- W1 s( T; `& |
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel* N# U( p4 t/ ^# g. L/ r: v
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the4 n' t1 h! q# Q9 Q$ j% W( j. y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
8 w* H2 F2 w6 h3 Z8 K) ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
: |* e" W C; X4 dyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people/ s7 S4 p: D% s) u
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
8 f. P& X0 b2 @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 U ^& y- K( N( z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
8 c1 T4 t: R( i' Jto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% ?' A7 k8 s4 y5 u( l1 J" V3 U" |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 w! \2 _4 G4 f0 N+ |0 oare spaces.1 T3 N, j H' \8 H
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
0 m- o; U. Z6 |8 N( K: U/ ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
5 g1 K; m$ N+ O1 rown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the, [$ m/ y) F! ]( ?2 J7 e
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
/ a. j- ]2 c) X( x1 |parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the6 O8 ?: |1 C- q( b6 I/ ^6 t
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few9 s7 P& w% V" u" b$ L+ E; G
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of/ f9 p7 o7 M4 j5 M
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it9 j- W2 k3 l2 [
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned." ]+ v1 k& \: c. o
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
