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
$ k& e( {7 I E# |standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
7 o+ r3 z) B+ r$ W/ X1 A/ Ion a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
# X. g! K+ y8 `" d" G. R"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
" h$ K/ t% ^2 Y3 i/ fanswers to our pointed questions.: z5 n3 P" d4 N* e) r0 F+ {
# E+ b3 a% {$ w+ M$ jThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
3 d1 b7 X* K6 u! j: e* l45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
! E9 R+ U5 B) y6 {/ |, H2 Nout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
; R! m* Q. U9 i! B& rfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
0 Q7 D" c6 G( wto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
! Y$ j- w/ y- v& X* e& b& Amedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
0 B! k' U0 a- W: S- L3 ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants$ `* A4 c* K3 f' }
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
- U' z. t x% M9 _) ]; Qassigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
& p, y/ s! t, j9 B$ v- C7 N3 |is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
7 o) D( i7 S; S4 E6 K+ wover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
k5 e8 D7 h+ L/ sseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
3 J6 T+ ?4 D& bmostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ W( U0 W5 R; g* }4 g" f* l- n
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' l! l8 x i6 x% P- y4 J/ T. @
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.: p# h; X; B9 L2 s& W
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. j/ k$ Y1 Q e3 i2 n; c; y0 Fprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- f" `! J; A$ @2 Z4 Wsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people, x; |& V& }, T% U
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good1 u0 c4 j- j/ W1 v
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 \3 j; \/ K3 B3 ]; B- q
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high( d( D( {, M: j) c
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.' d% K) }& ]* B0 r5 T" j2 h$ y
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When0 s) b! h0 ]+ D$ N
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only$ r! M' [) o) J. @( r8 ^; |& v2 F
charge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get) {0 B8 O# S; n6 W$ t
on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
) n7 f* _/ z0 Z- |' o! jof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
1 i$ @1 ?; G. b- P1 F7 `truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
2 t2 C) ~1 C0 Y+ K# c, useems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the+ k; ? z5 M/ B. W Z" |" V; H
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
" N% J! y9 V2 ]9 L9 m( N ^' qschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if2 z7 Z% E0 Z8 L# J& G
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people% P0 q r- c6 H' B$ e) b+ ?/ H
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
3 ?" Y3 ?" ?0 [9 B6 Phiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that5 k* g. T! y- J2 ]" I: t3 }
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want$ r& G6 u6 ~* h: E9 J6 q: R! I0 P
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
% T- l, @9 @+ m* J8 R1 lbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
4 x( u8 I& B/ z8 ~6 aare spaces.) H. _; b: H- `% K$ z
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi; {( x# h n- n% H
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: Q) f! B0 V; ^% ?% }9 I" Q
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
) _$ G+ V6 r" Q- t40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different' _5 \/ k' |3 p* x7 M: L
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the4 A0 _+ H9 L4 N
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few! x6 [3 ]2 r$ t" n: D
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of0 k/ J& {! t. p
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
8 J* F: B6 w# \1 v3 ~& k4 vis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.7 w! z% `! W6 C2 E c
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
