我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living1 g1 s6 M( X/ s7 _! }9 ~
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
( g) i# e( Y( M: |on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,( r6 G$ v) P4 u y$ i& W
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) H6 B% x. C: j% b( O# C; b
answers to our pointed questions.5 I9 ~" O% c+ w4 \! C) e3 C( d2 n) e
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
7 p6 R" U/ M$ D7 q7 w9 Y45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' X0 @! q) Q! J" X" a
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
6 J0 Q" U1 L9 N' A1 z% ifree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
. Z8 Y% W" n; b! w. zto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
/ f- d: l* E$ W4 k# Fmedical schools.- o8 W q& W/ ^0 I& J) V4 ]
3 k' m4 N3 E. ]0 D" NEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the1 y8 V$ ?' M. R6 W/ I( w+ R
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
- Y6 s& C" ?: y2 X8 D8 hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years7 C0 C$ l/ X5 t9 R7 v( N: o7 t
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
. a& R$ A/ o; L- w/ mis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ l# l# P! u4 a1 O/ a' y; ]over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
+ M; S- v1 n2 n, P0 R0 F7 v& R# Useems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
" S7 P2 R& f- S6 bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
& J. R; L* m- D* Gshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
+ n% J+ `2 [9 v q8 B1 k0 csugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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) z: X( h3 @+ o- {& ^The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 T. y7 P X3 _" D( _; Jprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
1 n4 O, p2 n- jsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
1 a8 l8 x( O. q0 W Ohave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good+ l4 q/ b2 o9 y# p9 ]3 Z! v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby) g, g- z& d6 h% Z9 }
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
+ O; W" { O* b3 f( q9 C8 xdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
1 d% P: R+ @# l1 N2 x: M+ g; L9 jDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
9 B8 _0 L7 y7 S, @: w/ Q$ S z$ S3 qa lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
- L0 }1 m& i: L3 Y: Scharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
( d: U- s! `2 b# s6 a% Z qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% q, a6 k D1 `2 N3 Z
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
/ V- w& H/ J e/ Wtruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( H& L: {9 f: N% G: [! m: v
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the" ^7 x# F' O8 h
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on: _) d! J# P a2 ]' N8 V# u# j
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if4 _7 s2 T: G/ N: X) E1 A
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
2 e) W; A1 h, I; `- jtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch/ o! M4 A$ S, z1 X/ g& `) A0 v+ c
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that) S f4 s! c: u- A. P) Z
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
3 H& b$ f2 G; \3 c3 Tto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or% S6 @! N( x$ r+ `
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there( H# ~- q% g- [6 ^" G# ^8 _& t
are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 t* g" A# X ^" sto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ L0 v5 n c) B) S7 ?: r. p' Lown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
y: `' d0 B/ t/ W4 `40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different* \! A: E. D" H" R$ m2 V8 \
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the7 k6 Y. Q$ W8 W' X& |) e
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few) Q4 y) H+ C! w! w3 K$ }1 o
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
4 x2 g7 D* \2 [* D; P- ncar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" M7 g4 x7 q0 w# r
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
/ S d' Y9 N6 ] K* v We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
