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! G' q, {7 b. p4 j, {
standard and government control wise. To see and know it more, we went
9 D* t5 ^3 V. p3 L; w* u( Aon a day trip to Havana ("La Habana" in Spanish). Our tour guide,& N8 c& P. q p- C) v& W7 z6 O9 @2 @
"George" seems to be very knowledgeable and, as we pushed, he did give) e2 r7 _1 W' t7 C( A7 ?4 r$ T
answers to our pointed questions.
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1 v, U6 ?, y% _The racial mix in Cuba is very diverse, with about 40% white, 15% black,
- i' [1 |* R& e9 O% F/ ^1 ?1 J9 _! M; _45% mixed (aka mulatto), even about 1% Chinese, so no one would stand
% Z1 D2 ^2 R( Q [8 v/ d9 a1 Sout too much here (especially after you got a sun tan). Education is
. I) V. m& h J l" ]" b) Lfree all the way up to University level (need to pass competition exams$ H4 |: h2 E. v/ C9 Y
to get in), and it sounds like close to half of the Universities are
+ h% l9 \$ \% Q- `6 fmedical schools.
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Every university graduate needs to do 3 years service assigned by the
6 Q" M: d& b. R7 e8 A: t0 V% Lgovernment before moving to the job/place they want, and if anyone wants3 ^! V: a) p8 D( X% K
to go abroad afterwards, he/she needs to do an additional 3 years4 a# y* `: ~) e& I
assigned service before leaving the country. The salary range in Cuba
; z- X8 B8 u Y, N! bis from $200 Cuba Peso (~$11 CAD) per month (minimum state wage) to
% f% f1 G0 [' |" E' hover $600 Cuba Peso (~$32.5 CAD) per month (for medical doctors). There
' V7 p7 T1 {. \- }, e* Qseems to be no big issue with food, as most basic foods are cheap and
& y& r7 R: f% F' H. ~mostly supplied/rationed by government. Though they do have a milk
1 g% H* _! o" t# rshortage which the government is addressing by converting some
7 Y3 \$ }3 X1 s5 \sugar-cane farm lands into cattle lands.
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J# s3 p' c* B9 HThe main issues are housing, transportation, and clothing. There is no
) ]5 V# W9 x) eprivate real estate in Cuba, as all the housing is controlled and! A' \% H# k# @
supplied by the government, and the supply is so tight that young people
$ X/ D' A+ k. }) L {+ E) ^have to stay with their family even after they are married. The good' Y5 N9 c) `) [# k R/ ^2 p
thing about this is that there is always someone in the house to do baby
: Q6 L/ Z+ o! ksitting and care for older/sick people, but bad impacts include a high
) V0 C0 r+ Q: m3 C' Bdivorce rate: over 50% newlyweds go separate ways within two years.
* x) b' H9 G; L: zDivorce is very easy: 15 days waiting period and $4 Cuba Peso fee. When& q6 ?$ h, x4 U8 J; r
a lawyer is involved, the fee is $15 Cuba Peso, as lawyer can only
" O6 s9 B5 \1 U. {$ t' K6 G/ jcharge the fee defined by the state.1 H8 z J; v& b5 N0 F8 m
i& {: |( k0 _( n" kThere are three main types of transportation: taxi ($20 Cuba Peso to get
; z o; p$ I) p& j/ v4 Von), bus similar like what we have but made in China, and a special type
/ |0 [5 n9 M! r7 fof bus called Camel (see picture) which has two "humps" and the big! g, O# u- c. e% g+ | k5 i" ]
truck head of the bus comes from NFLD (used as we were told). The Camel0 n' `4 ~* E, n P3 Y5 L
seems to be the main transportation for most Cubans, especially the8 S& m4 k6 q- q- H
working class people, 20 cents per ride, but it is often not on
, b2 I* j& ~" S/ Vschedule. No one knows when the Camel will come to a bus stop, so if
2 Y' D5 w2 |" @4 \, ^you ask, people say "maybe today, maybe tomorrow". We saw some people
/ G) h+ H. S3 q: [1 s6 k( A- Gtrying to hitch a ride in quite a few places. George mentioned hitch3 T9 o3 z: v* @% @* J @! t
hiking is very common in Cuba due to transportation shortage and that4 g! E- J4 C- E8 R+ _* f& J# X* b
people have developed a sign language to indicate cities where they want
. {6 p4 ^3 p/ i$ T+ G8 Mto go. There are places that government officials would stop cars or
, f2 I: K" C# l8 [; t# |. hbuses owned by the state and order them to take hitch hikers if there
3 Q6 p" x3 H, {/ b3 d# ^are spaces.
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There are private car owners, and some of them use their car as a taxi, k$ a; W- _$ U. T0 Y8 S$ v2 n
to make some money, people call them "the thinkers" (that is why they: _2 X4 ?, Z- Y, [7 \2 d$ F5 ]
own a car). Due to US blockade, most American cars here are from the* w* ~( O* q9 R& v
40s and 50s, but most of them had lots work done inside (all different0 J, D7 R; f/ j4 R% T; |
parts including homemade) to keep them running, so Cuba probably has the
6 [* ~& ?* b! }4 N, r# u9 p5 Hbest and most innovative auto mechanics in the world. We also saw a few
I7 w, K5 _+ r0 }" |' {' }0 ?nice new Japanese and Korean cars. We asked George about the color of
2 P' V$ }) ~; V/ {8 r8 Ccar license plate when we saw a nice new Audi - he said the red means it/ n, t4 z& b& A! j/ V9 B* B: e
is a rental, the yellow ones are private, the blue ones are state owned.
+ p6 Z5 n: g2 E* q& O: V We then went to check our bus, sure enough, it has a blue plate.
