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
" L% s/ k' ~" f: B7 Astandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
" F* C9 E* ]' p/ oon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
+ {; [6 ]8 z G! C. }2 Q"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
. z/ m5 o1 A6 f. W/ x6 o9 L wanswers to our pointed questions.6 |1 ?9 {$ y4 z3 Y' n5 c8 X) `
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,: _5 R8 o' |+ j& w' r# F
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand. Q8 z O% F8 @4 m
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
9 n6 `0 O9 P5 sfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
; U0 q! \8 B, ?4 T! Lto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
# j+ ]. | [: Umedical schools.9 \1 J2 y+ I4 |: X
; r" j4 L- U' v1 k% }" }Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
& ^( V( J) f. _2 `+ k" ygovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
* e% k8 z m* i; r' t& M& M% |4 P( @to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
/ T0 }7 Y) y, H! I3 a4 O0 J% ^assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
4 t$ a1 A, J; y b/ f, e0 m1 ais from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
8 j+ L" Q' ?$ t# h! {5 tover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There0 M: r/ R' l$ U. p( l# @
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and8 t. f. F- d8 Z! ?. R
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
2 M7 s b4 H. u+ e$ T9 o, Cshortage which the government is addressing by converting some [/ P8 m- I' {' E- B# v
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.% ~& v' ^) t2 c% G' d( c w3 l
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The main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no# Z* i' [9 H8 Y7 M/ f4 l8 k
private real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and
- Q# g0 `. W; I1 M- I' ?9 A: U) gsupplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
4 Y4 O$ L, }4 @7 J7 o8 m1 Chave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good5 \5 ~+ e( Q( V2 D. q
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
2 J1 A! z! Q( i* U" csitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
/ E; o8 r/ B, T2 vdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.5 f2 N8 m. z/ D4 p2 U2 ?$ V; k
Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When7 p! s) F+ H! K B; S0 L6 Z
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
: Q$ h, f# R2 F2 s0 |3 H2 i& ]6 hcharge the fee defined by the state.
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
8 q5 l2 ^, [+ U- h% qon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
# Q& a; T( A ^( ^+ b8 {of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big
9 ] s @6 E% F( ?truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
; H) c# Y* C0 J- ~5 U) V% N! f+ Fseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the; V) L8 c$ \" T; r$ i8 Y/ J9 g' y
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
6 j1 v9 \# n/ J1 ]2 X1 sschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
4 c" P K4 U% n* Iyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people; r* ]( S3 H2 c- b6 f) f
trying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
& J4 q9 t2 ^1 C- r: lhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that
6 y# h6 b* T/ J- o2 G8 Ppeople have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want% L9 H" _! b& ^2 E0 h
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
) b A& }1 a# T2 N2 A. P; }1 ^buses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
$ W' Y) b( A! o6 z( Zare spaces.3 G0 X; e/ o. ]! X. v
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ W) M0 j4 Y- ~1 u" o
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
$ U, r* K$ H, d! @6 P4 Bown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the# T2 c) X; R; B$ b" e( g/ a( i U4 H
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different
, W5 Q i+ |7 t" s2 \0 \parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the: {) @: N- @5 ^ G" l
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few7 l, V# A: l' t6 l: r) a, {( D0 O
nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of$ ~! m: R' E3 I: P1 m/ Z( ]8 T
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
( ?7 C" ]( p! S# r; P8 R8 Pis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. g; \1 W$ B( D We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.