我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living6 b& y. N9 I& N
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went% E1 v0 X b/ G1 L) S4 y) D6 O
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
9 D5 E" S2 t" T9 n' y1 w" {9 U"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
$ |- ^# m0 i7 ~* } danswers to our pointed questions.) L+ s& }+ j; @) i/ z0 @
$ ]' J+ \0 [1 z5 _4 _The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
" _8 N* X& ? e3 ?7 q2 O3 h45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
, j+ m4 o8 g/ ~" C' n+ ~out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is# a! k' S# S6 Q( n; B* M7 F
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams" L9 i! w2 L; o h& z6 z1 ]
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ }5 E7 b& _4 P5 kmedical schools.
1 j8 ?: j5 M0 B8 \: U2 A1 a+ _/ U! Y: A! Z) w) h4 c$ w4 N5 ?
Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
9 }. R) ?- O4 p9 W0 n* w! Wgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants/ S- c3 I' w" y
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
8 C6 d" E$ k' E) v# M4 W* {assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba8 z x: }4 O" ^3 i% }0 o( E
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 J% a( I5 z! [
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
/ ?% X: @" I" A& G: c/ m: @1 ^9 Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! ?2 K' l0 }6 ^
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
8 ], ?) Y* q$ ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. Z5 x% S$ {: f' \' @) `! Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.# B2 o8 j G, _/ V% }
* i9 u5 J8 l" D# u
The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no/ ^# G+ X& F: p6 n0 w! Y
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
5 P7 D/ n0 I# |5 N5 V8 Lsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, i5 K6 x& X& l) h
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ V* B" L+ }/ f9 Ithing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby1 T3 \* x) J) j: F0 G
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high3 [& }0 z3 c. v. ?$ I7 _0 f3 e
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
6 C, z: T/ n% L- i" kDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When+ \8 |. m) K- z$ c+ s, }0 b/ A
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only+ p- o* S+ G; z& e3 a
charge the fee defined by the state.
. ^/ n( ^ V7 E; d9 G( A0 T8 `, \! G* I1 j& E1 \
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get- W6 i5 f7 c( V) t' _
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
: ?" h' H" Y& @: L! wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big( x8 q3 y; g$ L+ n9 n+ D5 W5 r
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel O, ~7 d) }, [& G
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the9 v. N4 [! e0 ]) ~7 ~, m) g3 J
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" H9 X6 M8 Q4 _2 p+ G- A) Eschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if8 Z1 G- @. s* v2 a) F7 j# n
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
6 V$ c/ N0 C/ Ztrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch8 W9 h# T8 V9 t1 w
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
% F8 k9 s& f; X! a1 ]2 {# ?people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) ^1 {% z7 t+ D3 R$ h
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
# O' M3 \$ o4 W* F4 U6 lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there5 V+ N) R: X* @. w
are spaces.. M0 f, {6 {3 x/ l2 m
3 ^8 }, N) V7 X/ X4 P; B
There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi1 R+ e; w ~# R! ^& f
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they1 v7 }9 p6 X/ p P9 |
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
% u) r; ]2 b7 g3 R* Q2 n8 h- }40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different( p( ]5 T' H: a3 s+ r8 Z
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: L& b2 e2 X( x" m6 Q W6 W+ \
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few% n+ o; v8 Q+ u l2 q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of2 W: d# z- r. m" u1 s1 P! D
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it) w( }$ A! m. R1 Y3 r. h& D
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
9 q( i/ \2 T9 c" z9 x$ d9 U: _$ y: |% } We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
