我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living4 W$ z$ ], v* z% Y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( e* f0 c8 C, U' a( Son a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& I% n5 v. K5 L" C
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
# \' C, k8 B3 ~: U1 ^answers to our pointed questions., N& s0 N+ z4 U; S# l
6 E# K3 G& c' r0 {The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
4 N( j3 L! B0 A9 [ b: Q9 Q45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
2 J4 [7 `, t. q$ k0 r2 ?+ Fout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is1 ~$ j/ A4 c1 ^' t! d9 C3 W( o t
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams3 N7 q1 J f. I' u
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
7 p5 b5 z) h, S1 P+ \1 umedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
$ ~* ]- N& z1 D' jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
7 C" s6 x2 |1 t5 a! { F$ [to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years# X3 N% l5 K% y3 z
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; d a# }' N5 k4 k" n' Kis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to' |" c! l& j1 K
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# w( _7 G& A1 k; r3 \seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and0 }; K& Q$ a" A, z
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
* q6 J. h& C! W# [8 E) ?shortage which the government is addressing by converting some% O$ Y3 t( r7 V$ ^' [6 m
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% {5 ?3 g1 Z" s) M& S7 w. u+ x
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and3 e3 B, ~4 {' V. P# Y o
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ t0 p+ x* I9 E) }& jhave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good* J) m! F& l) d( _! R
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby3 ?( g1 P. O! u2 c
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
0 D9 h( R# ]+ Wdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.: B) W/ Y% o' }3 _6 B, x
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When1 r% E0 L+ i1 O) M0 g6 W
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% I4 |4 K2 _8 e- U8 J+ Kcharge the fee defined by the state.6 p. H3 W( J& f
2 s9 C9 B% B6 F5 r% ]* F) fThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
$ G9 V6 @6 m- n+ V7 ]" J; }on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type' c% I9 G# `+ {5 J9 N' }9 i1 m8 i
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
) V( S: d+ V. d. X3 _# R) o3 R: Q& Etruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( E+ o2 _2 m0 P- N* V
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; \ u" ?# o. a( i! \; K5 f3 f
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
) K: ?1 X2 [2 o) L) q; Uschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
8 x$ n9 k8 I- X% A4 Eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
& |' ^, v% {7 \9 ^) x% [% Rtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch7 m5 A: y7 n& G3 J
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" R# }2 V$ k& s2 V" u1 ?people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
0 k& e/ l; e+ v1 A/ P! z& fto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or( Q' r1 c+ X i6 l" E i
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
7 c" t" C6 P( xare spaces.6 _0 V7 U2 R8 Q/ k/ T8 d) N
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
8 i+ V3 Z9 ^( K4 O" y2 `- jto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
# y v9 Z- j1 G: V V' m' bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the2 S8 o5 A- h X3 P5 x
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different" `$ b" |& T6 T( d3 n$ L4 d
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the/ i& \9 c! B; \" y4 H# X
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
! u# Q. X; |" m3 Lnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of1 V% n1 w6 ~: J# O6 A. {# P
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it5 w6 `& G7 D& G0 N) j3 S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.) }6 u) _& f! n4 i" Y- @( ?8 d
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
