我们2006年的古巴游记 (二)
Cuba in general, looks a lot like China in late 1970s and early 1980s, living/ k1 V _' ^! {; T
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
/ {" i9 x/ y7 [, G0 {on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
3 _' S1 [6 u% E0 f" K% ^" E) z6 ^( D"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
% h. e4 Z. C6 o' ~7 |9 k/ ]answers to our pointed questions.
* l4 X- d! c8 V7 o+ y$ {+ b$ ]) o+ R" x# x/ P( s
The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,# v% v1 K9 q0 r& H; b
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand! y! _* L! X( O
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
/ o; F, X* N# Y% Y/ c Tfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( |8 v; Y* `4 x) K$ f8 E( n
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
$ `" x) v. r) zmedical schools.
: z; O0 q7 A4 F' s6 O- J0 }9 O0 k
- x [: H$ N* H- \; P0 cEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
/ A7 A# C H$ U$ Jgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 k& C$ H2 {9 L. G$ }6 i6 wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# e- m$ {; T# }7 ]7 M' u" V2 |# _assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba2 Q. r9 b6 A% B2 J t
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to% g6 R9 _1 ^5 b4 i
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There' a t* G1 r! X l; |
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and! F% }( f4 {+ [, t
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
; U$ n) a6 R2 k4 b& _shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' ?# `* \6 t1 b/ |3 z. P$ z
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* E/ V4 o/ `4 M( f, V& C
" g" M5 M6 j# m( lThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no% O2 ?, }) [7 C0 ?# l! d2 Q
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( x6 ~& T# x( O Usupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people. `% |% n3 g9 E$ S/ O. f# N& Q% {
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good$ r/ M" y8 }; S8 U) {2 a, W5 A* y8 W
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
5 q8 A( G7 d* _sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
& w: z! c- B7 m( v% adivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.; t' T. Q. q5 x1 {, i
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
7 |/ B, d6 Q( }5 Z( \; D9 |/ Na lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: B& o. Y5 H4 G- g: acharge the fee defined by the state.
" D$ \- \- t( d4 I: M4 q U% l) f0 I) t: G4 u
There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
' W% s0 q- \$ I" w4 P! o6 Ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
! a/ j& H; ]6 ~6 h$ }) E- |5 f4 ?" Eof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big5 w/ t! V d- ]8 M
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel! y, ~7 f" ], o7 ?7 T+ B2 a
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
. }6 i: `" k' K: h/ `working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 d, E$ C- ~3 J, H, Q; Y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
9 t0 w0 a) j$ {: ]4 vyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
9 F( k+ g; s' s- U4 D7 H$ ctrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# e9 a' E% ~( J" ^. Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
" ?* i7 i# I3 K. X- Ipeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want0 z4 v- X" M. y0 Y; t
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
* N. e& N, e R+ {+ L( Kbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
# _- F5 r3 c3 x; W, j* a; }% S' nare spaces.
' G, K" k% @$ |- J8 @
, d# v4 Q2 s' ~, Y1 T1 [There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
/ z/ h: X* [2 X" z2 Y( W9 h0 Kto make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they6 U+ c- o2 p" x P: I
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
0 \% u& l, q5 R' d* U40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
* n" H+ f: i* vparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 u$ n+ j. t2 {* T% nbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few$ o' }& u9 ?; x5 P5 r
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of& | B( V$ S5 u5 a& H) u
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it, o1 E2 s* h" [7 X
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
7 A9 _" l4 l8 W% m( c8 S1 K We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
