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
, h& t1 Y/ p, O' Hstandard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went2 s' C# l" u3 e
on a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,
7 ?- S$ J8 p9 M [: V7 w5 H"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give1 A" ]$ d! T8 ? _/ |
answers to our pointed questions.
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The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
: n* s& c2 n1 b2 i, p45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand' A' k( Q& P R4 B, _9 g
out too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
! a8 Z+ z; v8 ]4 s/ I# w7 c& ]- Cfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams( D0 L# k, V% n V; g
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are' {% B+ \' G% P; N: _
medical schools.
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6 F- p0 W9 v+ e2 U+ @- K$ g+ aEvery university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
4 m4 Y" C; V/ lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants
; x) D1 F* V6 W5 uto go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years
# J2 {, d- x6 w! u2 ~assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
8 b0 g& X' K3 i1 C: B$ K! B$ Tis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
/ }$ [8 [) B6 R0 Eover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There( D" x+ q& _0 m2 @' J
seems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and+ B6 N% B! X5 o* K# |7 N1 Q- ]8 {4 ?
mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk/ V1 X* w( T# h' Z& C3 i/ q, [
shortage which the government is addressing by converting some' ^( m6 w5 M1 D8 p
sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.6 j6 [- `' M: x" _1 w: W1 [0 {
, L8 ~5 `& M0 d$ Y% pThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
. g# F7 b2 u# |* qprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! ~* w1 D) t6 F+ Q1 |9 j
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people7 ?6 a% h+ G* c+ ^
have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good
/ g2 m, Q p( g' F1 Vthing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby. N5 d) z4 Q1 P2 I& E( \
sitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high0 t, B6 J4 d9 K2 m9 x
divorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
. i* X* |4 n( v0 K& \7 ?Divorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When
1 K& M7 H; w0 Z1 V1 K! Ga lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only/ N2 H% T% H7 ?( Q% g# K/ q
charge the fee defined by the state.8 w# A( \* a) T# i' `( q
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There are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
% m N+ p7 K' Y. lon), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type4 Q" t# A& _8 `3 M0 q# u& c
of bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big1 }+ H5 n' t$ J9 c% J& O. R
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel
/ C. l/ Q5 k1 O( ^$ L# ]' H. Tseems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the# l0 `, q$ Q& D) S5 U
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
( E$ w( ^ P0 |- C- b# Jschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if7 ^) S3 G& {6 |! N$ W7 B
you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
) s- v6 n) ~9 f$ H% S+ xtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch
" B0 j1 c2 z) s5 z( e+ k0 Vhiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that# S+ k4 Q. ?* |+ G; P
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
" L" d( j0 c8 t! b9 [5 M& L* Ito go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
& x2 T: ]$ m. j" ^- d( x6 sbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
9 Z. ^' ~2 {3 J; `) Q: @- ^are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi
6 X1 M9 @: x4 [( a+ I8 _& ito make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they
; g* D4 Q) u8 S8 ^2 [' n; |! F, jown a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the
9 h9 A, i3 C+ }* V6 Z" d40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different/ ~1 r4 v: ` _3 d4 C1 {6 T! g( J
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the! Q5 ?5 c/ q+ N3 R2 x) i/ I
best and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
6 g ]1 `! {4 I/ l1 P7 Xnice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
1 x' ?1 c! Q4 h. [, ^- d. Ecar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it" p! I1 p- @7 H
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.3 U0 L4 B/ M4 N/ O
We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
