我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living9 ~: r9 D1 r6 v, [" d, _5 N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went" J& j) |5 ~0 E4 w+ r
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,$ d7 |. R" ?6 N
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! T9 G6 K D) H5 n5 l3 tanswers to our pointed questions.( g$ d' ?: _8 C0 D7 y; J$ g
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
% q9 N2 X7 g. A2 D3 E9 `- _* {& R( p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' A- A! F- f8 Y; b% G
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is( S1 x. C5 p B. }
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams5 A" b/ U8 R) J9 B3 ?
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are$ [0 J2 o$ ?: V0 M+ |! G- m
medical schools.; |3 v- }8 {- v1 A& J( L, L: M7 j
/ R0 Q% o. D6 j3 U- L3 K: j2 lEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the3 i2 U' V' g7 f3 e' o+ ^. {, m
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants b. Q; w `1 T0 J/ A
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years [2 @1 m$ l$ z# H O; @' S& F
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; i- R3 {0 ]0 D3 tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
. j* d: ~# T4 l; a& lover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 ]& L6 @% u, `7 z U+ Sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" d! t+ H. w& J/ r( b @9 v) l' j0 Bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
3 N$ y- S2 a5 Z( U0 M9 w. lshortage which the government is addressing by converting some1 s& t3 y# X0 Y9 j3 ~0 e; P( u
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no6 U( k4 w/ H* b1 X
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and6 p8 j. z# U2 Y8 Y7 j! H
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people6 k: w( h u) W0 F3 W' h4 N
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good4 f1 `; T+ q3 M e+ E
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby8 t% X: O8 `! s) g. H- g3 Q X
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
( Q% `( K' c; M$ A) Cdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.8 n7 x) k# \( |- z
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
$ Q3 }8 H0 v0 ]a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only6 X8 \- f' S& }* b& I! v0 I# Y
charge the fee defined by the state.* u$ N/ M' s* d% H0 K
# P: ]4 [. V9 \There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 i+ W% v8 i5 @5 f: W4 w# b, {
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
5 F( D, U: H+ q# ?( Z4 I' {* F5 }% Cof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
% x, C$ i1 p! _truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
1 P2 z* n- S8 {! U5 P; H3 s! cseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, P4 R7 ^* c- J+ Z' S( r# X7 t- y Vworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
& e% G4 ~( s/ V7 P# ischedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
) Z, f6 |: K0 `* J* x0 Byou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 J$ M" r9 Y" Z3 v5 L4 j
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# n) ?: L! g# ahiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& X2 e3 I6 t' Q0 X1 A8 E- y. B
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% h6 ~0 ~+ A- a% c$ M `; V$ qto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or2 G4 U# @* t4 w
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
. {$ z$ U2 J( e- s$ qare spaces.1 Z/ D+ U" G# c( Z' V1 H$ G5 b# `
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
L" g5 @* `# Z. l; B( _' ^to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they9 T9 z, O8 a/ ]" ^* b6 i- E7 ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the) b0 B' E9 |$ X9 Y1 x7 M$ M
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different6 p3 p1 E# Y! i0 `/ ^
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- l9 q: t+ D+ J0 z
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
8 C7 p& O/ b wnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of: j! E, Z& E* g( N# b, {) C
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
% n3 p* u6 Y J& u e& ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
8 }& A* E/ c% N) u& W8 Z! a; `: \ We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
