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
! B6 ?6 X! }, m+ A6 ~) Estandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- v& `- H+ ~( Y' i
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& i+ X. @& u+ y, i- i- D: U( f! B+ w8 S
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give" v4 e: }* S* `; p: T/ m
answers to our pointed questions.5 A% F9 \$ K* d3 b0 }0 j$ _0 {
- ]7 @% B7 b/ x1 \' ] z+ R' q+ _The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" [ A* `1 m! A( ~ |; p7 n+ C; v1 I45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand# ~5 R9 C1 K# z1 w' q# l2 Z
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is% C7 z, v. F* _# E; y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
" E4 s/ d, q; N' ^3 P6 O' b2 zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
* S' ~$ g7 g5 W% Omedical schools.
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" @- p7 j7 H/ ^' EEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the/ G4 z6 c. O$ W3 p1 C3 p
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants' S9 w8 A9 V( L" {
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years: {% v4 u9 C/ f0 a
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
( l" |( S6 i- Z; u M" ~is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
# t* y U! o: m; U `8 M# B4 Kover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There. w# {2 w$ H( j2 S6 [% q1 M/ P
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" W1 f# ~4 g3 m: t: N, Z" cmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk2 e- y( ^9 ^+ i9 Z% c# b
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some# P' s- C) E8 m/ F& N3 \6 @- m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ Q. D7 F* q6 y1 M }" J G
/ l, L; ^& h6 o; N7 h' t5 N- T. R! eThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no2 r, P7 k2 @. a
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
; E2 W; U: @, d9 v! M$ Usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 S$ a6 P. |' S# H
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ I6 K, ]/ {7 K7 e, K, q& Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) p9 D, g2 P2 h: Z. V
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
" V0 k, C- h; r: B* `; l5 Pdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.$ [) S9 |( ]/ |$ U: @/ D1 x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
( Z0 u0 a+ R1 \; k0 b2 |- Ia lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
4 E9 R- {/ K% `. pcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
# Z) Q- Z6 Y$ b; Q8 L9 I- Ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
1 j0 i( s+ A @3 W- @) P* d) Cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( b6 @# ?6 T1 W( v; r( ^
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
6 d6 T1 m9 L' }seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 K5 t* X- a/ N2 J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on7 p- D* M# f" y$ u) v4 V
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& N2 e3 [) a4 k7 ~8 w/ V3 iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
0 q% u. ]$ M% y8 qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
0 V% d. c3 r3 i+ u" C6 Q8 {hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
{8 M8 p+ V4 q) M3 u+ xpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' z6 Z& M R1 F6 D ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! w$ c% }2 @5 ]& o B" A3 _buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
& a3 }. h9 t6 z9 `& n8 P. {. c0 lare spaces.
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4 M; s# G* n! X ?# E. d) a6 WThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 A. g5 J3 L/ {1 {; H% ^& Pto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
8 y5 I6 j& s5 Q9 Pown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
5 J" D+ s& }0 I3 ~' j3 H8 v40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different2 U* p c( a: g0 s, `0 S
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
1 A! h# y6 V& t( ]3 ubest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* X( {/ u) H5 {. B$ G ?7 hnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of+ F- V: G: }8 f- L% P
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it1 b5 e: W( B/ c s* |* o3 X4 g9 v
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# b. Q( A' T8 g: o( y; l. | We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
