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
% O1 ]& A$ x6 a8 X7 qstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% z$ O3 O0 U" t, G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 D9 a7 |$ T# k: o/ n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
9 d/ i+ k% S1 {' D# A* h# Vanswers to our pointed questions.# e( ]* [- j0 t6 [
: h( {* t1 ~9 |The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,- H. W3 v$ Y6 X% B! P `
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand4 t; }( F- {* v! u) R) D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 X' n Q1 L2 c4 q) c' Kfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams. e. ^: v& z W( j; h# X1 u
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
% C6 @. _1 `3 D( s7 `medical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ k. J8 C5 w* T! D3 Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
% ?1 u# q6 g0 o7 ~to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# k/ d) x, I/ W' [" I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 `' c7 F! Y( U7 }
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to! x/ @" p! Q6 c. d2 a( Y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
2 B4 [1 u$ o8 `9 ~; H1 @seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and5 s: ?8 {4 w* B$ ]. r0 ~
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; t, t; g; x2 d2 n% m+ \shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' M5 F, o9 M# m% t2 x6 m. l! w
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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/ I0 V( _* c7 o9 H2 c2 K% CThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no I0 y7 f$ L7 Z; D, k) w4 @
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and. g% Y. _7 H2 L! T. w% l* X
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people) r# Z i u2 E' ]+ L! H
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
, e+ P9 @# v- A% P- y% Qthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: O6 F' ?0 E! X3 c/ K9 T C1 M- esitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
; F8 K- V M, y+ wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: |; {& n4 O' f. P9 e. }
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
' ~4 N/ v5 y2 p2 Z3 `9 ~5 Va lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only3 `. F) O2 N# n u5 z4 B: _
charge the fee defined by the state.
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7 B' a( @# C- n5 \; o% j) h) [" xThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get7 H# A0 E# m! M) K5 K
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type3 N) B( a- U8 f; u, l
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
; t' d- |9 R& w+ Q8 N4 ftruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
- v, R7 K0 h4 d3 Hseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the! {& R' A" S( j, N& i' @, d3 C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* k+ t/ w' c" |! t5 [7 H# K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if. |: g0 A5 g+ x" K6 f0 q
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people* S% C, b8 @3 }0 `8 H# R- f4 m
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
E! J! |7 ^! ?3 |5 u" _% Chiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
+ w* {. r4 C# U, Q3 Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
; w5 U- ~; X0 z. Rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
5 T- X. i" L4 w5 {0 M& Jbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there4 i/ J/ M9 w+ ?- v$ O% b
are spaces.( L0 j. @4 K a- O# ~
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
' w f+ E5 n" y- ?: D9 `" Ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they0 Q; N- |6 z5 J7 V* D- I$ f
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
+ M0 N" P% D; z5 e1 R40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
& ?* l& i$ T U) |6 r. |' nparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
# [( b' K4 y7 W- k' U* Sbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
J# D0 {1 _9 j: X# {' }nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
/ O) w# i5 u- V2 ~# k& n% ~) ~car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" d7 }, @* ]" a$ z! A
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
, Y& l: r/ G, Z% `! w We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
