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! ]1 A. L# R2 P0 |
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went4 Z @# o& [5 J: R$ j8 @! m
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,; x0 a3 O! T: g6 R2 F; v, U
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
/ s5 I; j* m( M( ?$ F7 yanswers to our pointed questions.+ j9 c( l0 N2 m4 X% s+ S' S9 C
& s0 q/ F. w, OThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,& C$ _0 d2 Q# \7 W7 ?
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
0 t3 H2 U' ~3 bout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is; t1 o0 F2 ]9 ]+ o, j& y
free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams h( E" ^& u3 W. }( m& J
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
: G0 R1 F* F0 E5 G. j/ }medical schools.. u4 y7 Z" f0 \ A% L4 k ]# }
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
( n ^$ g+ J4 v8 Ugovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 F0 d' i/ {8 A. M9 A9 K E. D
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 `' ?: \* w; S; t, W
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
% y% N' {8 U* H% V6 w# {6 m# _is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to# S3 n H# ?% u7 X2 T+ { M
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There% w( U: |5 r" ~1 a3 p
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ ~* ~7 f# K3 M' S$ A2 L- Z. _( {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 C# Z* w" W4 B8 Y/ ashortage which the government is addressing by converting some
: X+ E0 r! U& n& Q9 J2 V2 Rsugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no) I5 @5 [ M) W( I# f4 M4 p j! K
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and ~' e5 Z& x# U+ X# ^
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people9 y& u* t6 q, f# @6 x/ u$ Z" h
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
7 z& \" D# B5 t5 Ything about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
6 I( f- u0 s6 ?sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
9 m7 V0 ^# @) Q% B6 ?divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
3 m! B# z/ l+ g' gDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When6 L- E$ m0 C* K+ `7 _
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
1 }' ^+ {$ o! a. M& qcharge the fee defined by the state.6 b% U% a. c* E4 O; [; \
( l/ z1 _, s7 t: k% e- TThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get p8 w: r4 s! h1 E3 Z' G7 t$ O( T& q; d
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
; m; A* T, ?- vof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big" A/ M, {* x! p" Y+ T
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
% c% f4 |4 r* v8 Gseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the: t+ H* T1 e2 `1 J! T; u5 {
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
; T5 ?) E' n- S, p9 B Q" M" _schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
& z+ l( B! E: ^& j4 E5 eyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people3 E4 p6 O; f/ x
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! P/ Y) p J) g1 o! _hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
8 {, F; `8 H+ n, fpeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
' a& B8 K+ Q5 z+ d% sto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
! ~' D& `* \4 L3 ~/ |buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there2 o0 ^6 U, v, |( s* h- E
are spaces.7 A1 y2 k) ^! ?7 h6 ^9 J( y
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi! ]& \' }" J* F- K
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
) J! L1 [3 c ~ X' Wown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the3 m; ~/ i e' j& D3 Y9 K
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
$ x/ Q7 r. ~2 _. C$ z: [parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
/ a) ?! P8 ~6 a( T' tbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
* ?; @4 D5 l; m; `& d5 I8 O% _nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of5 }7 z4 ~1 L8 l+ V4 E" ?: Z6 ~; u# U
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
' X/ O" R7 C, G4 S9 s( ais a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 X/ r) q# h$ D1 A+ h
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
