我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living3 W1 f: t: M# O8 C( i
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went5 Z( V6 F5 m$ R, H" H- G
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
4 S2 d1 k5 e6 }3 z$ U; d! n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give$ a9 F7 J5 J' r4 D
answers to our pointed questions.
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( R* p4 X& b' @# q- JThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
# \9 n. `9 s( x1 ]. y9 c0 Z9 n/ H# x45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand2 [- i# ~7 W( D$ b# S
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 s5 Z/ _" t7 v. f
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams* n% K) d# q6 Z9 q' E! b
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are- L d& @! p$ h1 i3 `8 U
medical schools., n( }0 @9 O; L7 Y! S. x- G
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
: g/ F- ]7 a( `: A+ b% pgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ p7 B U0 p& a- f9 d
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
% A# e X9 }) q$ Wassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
' d. d2 y9 A$ ?/ ?0 t4 ]! Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
" Z7 x ~) n9 S5 }7 mover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
) j2 ^ [& M! A Tseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and. Y3 K/ w2 z. e3 e- q0 D4 K
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
5 d) x/ W2 Z* Y; e% r7 N* p7 y) pshortage which the government is addressing by converting some) ^/ u7 G: H8 Q u
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands./ `* G V/ z9 X$ ?3 K) q
! K7 w0 \) I$ ZThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
# b+ x/ H7 h) l9 z) @private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
# F; X/ F1 T9 p7 J$ R2 t j1 |% nsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people: |9 E3 E! g6 \0 d2 {, L3 F8 H
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good2 `' i4 s9 y. q, M& ?
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# u% v) m1 N% }) e
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high" p4 ]9 |- ?- w. G# w1 K4 q
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
- \' f$ o7 y; L/ ?8 ^Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& t7 J8 C6 R! L" r v" Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 [; m! N0 f: u1 G- s
charge the fee defined by the state.0 \0 ]5 z* d5 F
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
/ g; ?+ ]# E+ f# q1 Ton), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type- x. E9 m; i$ s9 k& z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" ^( d- K; Z7 i0 g
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel# D0 F; T0 R+ ^' ]3 t R3 B
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
$ P3 F5 X1 @/ tworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on* h4 Y6 k3 \# g" v: K
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
( {5 ~: o3 `. a9 x2 G! [you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
{5 C1 l) O4 y2 \( w3 m; i4 utrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
: Q4 \5 v( z1 }& Z+ ?hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that! V! I5 w" K* G: v
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 }1 V! l% [) v# k% K. c
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
. K$ n2 A8 E8 xbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
2 m* I' P0 r. S+ t* qare spaces.
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1 G: A" ^. O! {+ m% iThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
# N/ c. i9 b* C$ O3 yto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
+ z' f' o4 ]- ^- U$ A% ], U# bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the( | ^3 a$ H( R, V* {$ p
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
4 F7 M' {4 p B% tparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
+ v& L' Z, [0 E: Dbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few' e; Y8 i/ C! ?0 }; ^
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
8 U- V \8 P2 }9 c4 {- Kcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it7 n+ b4 y1 u, y' M* Z& \7 n
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
# A3 `, W9 ^( Q I2 l! a, l We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
