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
$ p2 q; N3 O7 _3 ~: c0 Z$ @/ Fstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
- N @2 Y' R3 Q* U9 qon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide, X/ J, F z+ |$ \4 u; {3 P5 Q
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
! J7 h) C+ G* \! }+ Vanswers to our pointed questions.
2 N7 P, {& ?: ~) D" \
3 ]& ?" U0 E# nThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
* h+ ^ H; K/ X0 E( ^/ |1 I7 a' r2 k& T45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* Z Q# Z5 @ T; y6 d
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is& k7 G/ e5 _+ [' ~" K$ O' k9 d
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ r! P/ V& j1 bto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
, S! n( Q) P9 n* Smedical schools.$ H$ O0 V) t1 S' T! Z$ F
- B. @( V" A/ \; U2 aEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the' ?. Q4 m5 i! [5 F
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants9 c/ Q# w' P5 o/ e* g( }
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years8 x4 N7 J: f' b6 l6 {& w5 E
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) T8 W. U, d* R( \
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to( C. W: g5 k+ F' j1 h
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
6 w2 P, Y) d7 H0 Z [' ]seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ s3 r1 n9 _( [; v4 v) H2 H2 q2 m/ l
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
6 N, U* E0 w$ E2 v! T! R4 p& P8 cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some6 B0 s3 p+ j/ N" d
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.- X5 [3 Y. {. k. p
" v' @5 n2 ^$ G VThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
+ I5 s8 ]8 Z( D0 yprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
( x4 g% L$ H+ }supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
( Q% l% }' c/ n5 ^- o, d6 ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good. @. _* f# j" L1 n
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
% T7 @4 K7 O8 @( M1 L9 hsitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
$ ?6 e/ ^* b' u/ fdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.. q0 x' S+ j) w9 {) D2 ~9 r
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 o r9 r8 x/ \7 r8 L+ da lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only0 g( z A5 o0 p9 E# T
charge the fee defined by the state.1 g( {1 s) y2 E3 P
1 Z9 J% f, b% z4 W2 q7 hThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; `2 b k8 v: g- M- ron), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
3 V+ D" M- e' L" T3 @( _! L5 ]. }of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
# @/ [& { f1 |. A$ Ytruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel6 U! u2 o4 N. g) C' C; I" F
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
, f! R3 R- L5 V" [) N/ rworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on9 W$ r, I% m4 K. P9 k
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 h9 \# g# S. z: ?2 a" _
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
; e4 p6 y0 f2 `$ Q5 _' W) htrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
# I4 q# n, ]# h$ `hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
4 W9 J; m2 O3 k+ o/ E2 ?people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
# r1 |+ C! Y; v' Bto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or6 ?3 i- D8 i% Q- G. M+ H+ A
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there; x6 R. [# p1 ~, Y+ n7 e
are spaces., H! y; h2 l% x# S6 }% y
; v6 ?- h9 f: [+ V+ q8 `% }6 a2 wThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi' q; C0 h& q: z, c* ^
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they+ I E. I, l5 @7 y
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
1 t+ z' v2 ]4 k/ Y+ @40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, }+ n# z! G N7 o) Q2 Cparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
0 l1 g1 s$ s7 \6 h u* Qbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
3 c9 G1 A7 D" p) qnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of- Y9 |! C% Y/ A* [* U+ W
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ Q8 V" W% A, J2 H
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
n/ I9 Q x* v We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
