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
& s; D2 j& j5 @; istandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went3 O; c0 d e4 }8 J; Y8 i- t
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
1 k Q0 t7 S7 W4 z7 }"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give7 n: |/ U/ p4 I
answers to our pointed questions.0 e# }- k- U4 W2 [" s9 B* n) h$ y
% y) u H z. W L. a4 ~) U5 hThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,4 j; }' F ~9 x- U( V7 I+ L
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand$ ?2 w( e' Q- D
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is. F8 S) i- r* \. V+ \8 R% X
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
/ r. U; h5 K8 j/ T6 _/ cto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are! f3 N2 d: J: X2 Q- H0 m& ]
medical schools., o" a6 w9 f! H% f" ^3 D/ i) A# Y& b/ J
3 Z! H4 N D1 w& s) D7 s$ ^* ~Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
. v# K7 ]3 W" d: N: Ngovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
8 s# |( O& s% X! Hto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years. a1 T- b* n+ p2 \* D0 N& V n4 k
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba0 ^: H8 u! Z2 u( |/ }2 d. s
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to* Q( y% a9 o% z8 E/ D% U, E: x
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
# K9 s; h- R/ w+ u6 c: \0 Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ g% ^) L+ e% M9 h% p( O9 M7 {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk P- H, T; e q8 `3 o% }$ h
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 b X- }7 u. P' qsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.' o, Q( G) S8 m2 J$ X7 d
; g: d$ W4 i$ H4 wThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no. L) L2 X/ y4 j- o* X& a- b* [
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
0 Q' d( d" T5 Csupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 \0 R! Y! Z2 S" i
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
6 D* }- |% Q6 @# wthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby# \$ H: w2 i! r9 \' w# m. D
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high- Q3 t Z u- M/ o& X# o& E
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.* V. T/ b& p r! A
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When4 m7 }( u( e/ [5 n5 Z6 B
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: Y, I' S" {- z$ U3 Pcharge the fee defined by the state.; w* q9 `9 j4 j9 {% y1 s' w
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get6 Y/ } t1 |3 h5 d
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
. X( ?: V! X. p- B6 aof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big6 l# b7 w U0 y. }5 ]. D X* m
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
* u. G! k& n4 ~# U3 aseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the- k- _9 W1 {1 Y- r1 V3 v( Z' j
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on8 r. M$ j0 b! Q1 v- u% _7 ]% t
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if, v) w4 Q2 r) ^% O2 @& _8 a. r
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
$ X. u" K0 I0 d9 y. B9 J6 a- wtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch, [0 ]* Z, t. S7 o7 b
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
' P7 ^* R# N+ h" H3 a" E+ _people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want6 G! C' e4 c8 z; c5 ]
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! |% R' U: }3 _. v" `' ~0 Fbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 T* z5 n, D; w1 X3 yare spaces.8 a- b4 }8 ^3 _5 `) ^" C" ?+ O
( {% H( m7 z5 V. F; o5 o1 R* O) Y6 ZThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
$ v! { ~* K+ @to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they3 A: k& [' w8 U" h2 _4 G
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
, D7 T8 k, Y' D- ~4 t9 c, _% a* ?40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
: W- E0 U9 h$ R' n0 c# hparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
- s! T( Z; [/ \; j" y6 Kbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 ~* m' P; i: h7 v" Q
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 E9 Q3 P3 w$ d. f
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it& M$ l( Y W0 H) T1 E
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.( \9 B% B7 K) ]. l+ t# q/ ]9 S
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
