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" W! l5 ?3 e3 S1 y
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went& i" V. ]/ O3 R+ u9 s: ^/ W
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
/ C& L; b$ i1 h: n"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give; Y7 {/ ^- E. ~) J
answers to our pointed questions.8 {) Z9 n8 I2 b. ]. h! H
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,) ]0 A2 h% n X2 y/ Y
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand* o- D7 s0 W2 f3 b* A) J2 ~
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; o6 X0 w( ]* ^0 Ofree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
7 ^ l. h. d6 i- T1 B$ ?4 [to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
1 W. J7 B" `! m) f$ ^/ n* vmedical schools.6 Y$ T& H5 l; v! Q: ^
, }$ C8 f: v7 P1 \$ [. E$ Q) `Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the- ^. I* H+ ^2 E5 d/ M
government before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
0 w& k+ Z/ S1 ]6 ?" wto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years! f' V# M# q" P' T. Y
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba: e& f) Z: d2 C) z( W
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to) {( Z2 e1 s. Y7 C' U7 B
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
N5 a2 ^: s4 J% Y Nseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
$ {4 S: b, S* K+ T$ m7 }7 \8 ~mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
# k# D- [* W3 {$ Sshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
- l& M5 R7 h2 T; i) ~3 p4 Esugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.1 d: p. q1 X9 \5 r$ @, v3 h
+ E2 X+ Y( R0 g$ P& ~- f5 {" l' A5 WThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no3 e2 V5 P1 Z5 ]0 F$ L5 T
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and* t5 ^9 @ D, l/ ?1 @2 m
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
2 j& d* I2 |7 L Phave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good Y# ~1 U( t5 }& |1 e
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby' r4 F& H$ ~" s. _6 _9 X+ b Q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high R, d: p% v. ~0 a
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.+ r& }' m& Q8 ~ e# N
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
* L, [: {% w6 L$ s; ba lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
% {) K1 W1 i0 R7 L1 f- l7 Q" V) ]# ccharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get; h8 k" h! a( m# E& D4 |' U
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type5 d! Q7 _9 b! ?( e3 X
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
8 w1 a) Z, K- }- ]2 J4 W: \truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel( j- X! S# D+ j' O; N5 L7 H2 T# i1 e
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the' Y9 B/ |4 l0 m; q" n' c t6 C
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on% B# p. ?0 S# n/ X6 Y
schedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
1 ^# H9 L+ W0 e. Ryou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people0 e# ^( L4 ~& h/ q- m8 w6 j
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
! e8 r: E! N- f, Y1 D0 @hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that- d( m }+ }4 E3 B* F8 g
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
% P0 }* n7 i4 d; h4 @0 F' x2 rto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or; P" a8 q* [1 G Y; x! ^7 G7 j
buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
5 M5 C4 |" r' \9 l8 Mare spaces.9 p( O* {- Z! G, i5 i8 M5 W
; s8 z$ ~8 ~- z' GThere are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
3 n& B# X: Y. n7 J/ h }to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
' ~4 y$ a! Y- b" c+ Uown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the" [. ?4 T( l6 ^" X) I6 g
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
- i0 E/ M$ ^- E4 ~$ F$ Aparts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the- M% T8 k% Q. y
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few5 G8 k- o3 l8 A, R' ?4 \
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of; x. [7 L9 W) C( O, d) Q8 w
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it$ E- M2 G' j+ A/ x, n5 v. ?! C. ]; S
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
& S9 _$ B1 R* I0 z q) k- T3 F We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
