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
. G' S, J6 y. Gstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went- S7 o$ E$ l% b: }+ g- C5 K
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,' h5 D) [# Z4 F1 E2 I/ _& N+ Z N9 n
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
' H2 A3 n% J5 w; i; x/ \5 banswers to our pointed questions.
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: x% D3 j& a. h- p( }1 f: }The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,9 t* ^" P- @ L/ j
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
6 y& K% A. q0 @$ y1 o5 k3 Rout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is2 G2 Q) I/ ]* j
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
4 T$ m+ z: k/ i" C; nto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
) y& T! c' E, tmedical schools. r' R% V* z( i8 }1 e& N
4 f$ J+ ?" x8 Q, n7 i kEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 m+ b3 ?" ` k6 L7 M, u. Mgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants; Z5 L' G0 Y+ b# ~4 _; U
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years x4 y+ R9 t. O
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba) B% } A. b7 r4 R* J4 h
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
6 E" k5 O" D3 x- |over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
y0 }6 I6 H* j Pseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
8 c1 I: G! q- p- ^# T4 o. Amostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
% d, f$ F3 Y4 n0 P1 [shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
, Z3 I- [3 ^+ Y& i3 D5 W* usugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.* h9 V. t: F3 ^8 X( z, D% T
& W; x& k" F. i! |. M# `5 M9 t* i/ aThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 ^) B Y% ~% L* _private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
! ^% G8 \$ G4 Q9 `+ bsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 [# y/ g+ W7 s
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good) ^$ H& s8 q- z9 ^, e/ Q6 s
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby+ c. r: j- \9 B7 [
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) i! L; k2 n7 ndivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.9 ~1 w# G/ P+ K% S
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 t# B2 t! j7 d3 `a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
5 v. H, S7 ]- f7 ` Ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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& x6 G8 E* Q; F! gThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get" x7 m) _' C; ?: ?( z( S( Q7 O! t
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type% G% ~; c( f$ O8 h; N3 b& W
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
, }- D4 J4 t8 W0 V: g4 i1 Ntruck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel8 }# D! }4 K/ _" X9 n; Q7 U
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
- l6 X# l: n7 E1 _' M, Dworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
7 X7 O6 r* @9 W6 F$ nschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
# P2 g! r- _. C$ |7 l/ p2 {you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people7 {: d3 n$ t! @7 @" n6 n9 C" }
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch5 T! J8 f+ S6 j# g! m
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
( K/ q6 i: g2 D. ~8 l% ~- epeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want) @! t0 I$ ]! }% M8 ^6 M
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or& v H5 Z+ ^* ~6 S% L) ~
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
; G; U: I' w' r( o' Jare spaces.
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A6 U: L2 }' X$ ?There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi- p% m3 a8 G5 S5 R1 _; z* e6 K3 G) C' I
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they7 t0 N! P$ q2 m% M
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
6 `! n) p! G2 L" J40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
! M( n% Z& O$ B, T4 L7 U, g6 eparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
7 Z0 h$ \: N& G, E. ]best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 H9 n# R3 X+ U7 z. P+ \* a8 t* B) tnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
* ~" e4 ]3 e# e6 F+ H5 p9 ^$ Wcar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
0 `7 ?5 p" P. o& k+ C) S2 u$ ris a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.! R% f2 j$ n" q7 r! Z4 f0 z
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
