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$ n7 ]7 P( p/ G$ K& L5 P- M
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
: l' a% Z2 Q" t" Q/ {2 S6 A2 ]on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
5 c5 A7 p" B& S; g' M5 d: D"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give
( ~2 P: Z8 j. o2 @$ f; q5 v& _answers to our pointed questions.* n1 m( ^5 `4 w G# J; ^: G
# d. g. E8 i x' AThe racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,, G$ ?" D6 l$ a8 C$ z5 P Z
45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
8 }) c0 m4 f) x( @6 oout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
- l4 j8 R* r/ S' n3 f4 ~free all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams
+ _4 Q6 A0 _( i5 t6 oto get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are" `8 d, L1 ~4 [$ N6 i0 b) {# P
medical schools.7 s1 b4 m6 ?8 ]
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
! R" L4 C$ a! J: Tgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants) R9 v) {4 a& @* x' E
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years% t& }1 u# R: Y2 U, C4 z! D7 c
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba( x; ?( f) N o |6 Z
is from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to6 l6 Z" C! @ d, C7 K% y
over $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
8 [8 l7 j/ v( F+ \seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ N# \, ~1 x( _, G" O& Q& M( i5 {
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
: X( g: }' P$ M) {6 Z# ~shortage which the government is addressing by converting some
. H, t& d9 z$ i$ s. P! d1 ]sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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6 @* n: D$ [6 o' IThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
4 k! N5 q8 m; M1 N: Q$ qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and9 N% Y6 y( D+ n- X
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
* c# y9 f6 s2 W0 b+ V2 N2 c) Ahave to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
1 {$ \6 I; o: n1 z# K4 R7 h1 vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby9 L* p2 Y% k3 I! B- }8 V& z# \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
, |+ X& a4 F: X: [" [" ^divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
2 L7 ?+ N4 v1 q- B% \! PDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
# ]+ Z6 w( m2 _0 o# Z1 La lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only% R2 P! a# E8 N3 ~( P* Q
charge the fee defined by the state.1 A1 b; C0 p" Z9 L, W" f7 Y) w
, x2 h0 E8 \9 D% k# }9 G2 PThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
* ]- Z! T, i$ j; w1 @9 {: r$ _on), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
@/ m/ g& Z& C3 D( l- ^. v4 wof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big# I% M5 [) F# t% G1 `" v
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
$ O- p# C! i; m5 W+ d8 d' vseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the
* y; I3 R- p/ A# m; nworking class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
% j( j6 ^- w5 b* o- Vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
" W9 a0 u8 f+ v8 k1 lyou ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
# A/ C/ ^" A5 N! k; Qtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
' n: W( x; @. ] W% |1 thiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that& [$ `& R# L- m( E7 a; N' M
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want. X/ [7 K0 J) Q; E
to go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
3 j1 {6 B* D8 Abuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
8 f+ s! M4 ~' u. ?; u' Ware spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi/ r& ?, T/ i* i+ M7 [/ b
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: b. W; x5 G R2 e
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
7 T8 A/ Y6 g1 j5 w# W$ A40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different$ P& E3 a: g- z" e
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
! v+ d- [, n4 Q( p6 q2 @best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
1 k; v, F) w1 a. E5 ~nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of9 j6 ^0 ?* q( {# {, @# P5 i: v5 O
car license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it
! S) a; L2 r, o1 G5 qis a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
. d4 B0 g( f. A( G: ] We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
